1 Establishing research
1.1 Steps in research
1.2 Independent and dependent variables
1.3 Formulating a hypothesis
1.4 Population and sample
2 Minimising extraneous variables
2.1 Extraneous variables
2.2 Placebos and procedures
2.3 Types of sampling
2.4 Experimental research designs
3 Collecting and presenting data
3.1 Data collection
3.2 Types of data
3.3 Descriptive statistics
3.4 Visual representations of data
4 Drawing conclusions
4.1 Inferential statistics
4.2 Validity and reliability
4.3 Conclusions and generalisations
5 Ethics
5.1 Ethical considerations in psychological research
5.2 Non-humans in research
6 Reporting conventions
6.1 Writing a research investigation: title, abstract, introduction
6.2 Writing a research investigation: method, results
6.3 Writing a research investigation: discussion, references, appendices
6.4 Write your own research investigation
7 Examination Skills
7.1 Practice questions
Kristy Kendall graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in
Psychology and completed her Masters of Education in 2014. She was the Head of Psychology at
Haileybury for many years, and is currently the Head of Haileybury’s Edrington Campus in Berwick.
Kristy has been a VCAA examiner for over 10 years and has published many works in VCE
Psychology. She is currently working for Edrolo presenting online psychology lessons and revision
tasks for Units 3 & 4 students across the state.