Teaching Research Methods – Extraneous Variables
The Mad Psychologist! Relevant for GCSE and A-Level As you may have already determined by my previous posts, I really enjoy teaching Research Methods. Whilst it can be dry, it can be made into a very practical topic where students design their own studies, analyse the design and results of studies, as well as evaluate and improve research designs. Not only does making these lessons practical make them more enjoyable, it has the added benefit of improving students’ exam answers because they can think more effectively from a researcher’s perspective and justify their decisions. One particular area of the topic that students always seem to struggle with is extraneous variables and how to control them. The volume of key terminology can be overwhelming, especially for the bottom end. From speaking to my students, the main sticking point is being able to identify the extraneous variables in different examples. They’re confident that they can define the key terms, but applying them i