PSYCH253 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Dependent And Independent Variables, Psych

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH253
• Professor: Steve Spencer

Document Summary

Psych 253 notes- module 2: how experiments try to establish causality. Should be both valid and reliable: valid measure = measures what it"s supposed to measure (ex. Violence: reliable measures = measure of something that will happen consistently over time (ex. Act of violence: reliable does not mean it"s valid. Independent variable should happen first and then dependent variables follow. Random assignment is based on random probability: helps eliminate other possible causes. Procedural control: keep control and experimental group as similar as possible besides the amount of violence is viewed, surveys and establishing representativeness. Uses random sampling: small part of a large group that will represent the whole.