Assignment One
Introduction
There are numerous research designs that a researcher can choose. Therefore, it is essential that the researcher chooses a research design that fits the purpose of the study. The purpose of this paper is to explore the logic of experimental design.
Jackson (2012) Even-Numbered Chapter Exercise Problems
One confound identified in this study is the attrition or mortality effect, which is the dropout of subjects from fifty to twenty-nine subjects (Jackson, 2012). Another, possible confound in this study is the maturation effect since the depression study lasted nine months. In addition, a testing effect may be a possible confound if the subjects were tested multiple times during the nine month study. Finally,
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As a result, an experimental research design requires strong internal validity (Jackson, 2012). Overall, the internal validity is the approximate truth regarding a cause and effect relationship (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Therefore, strong internal validity allows the researcher to claim what they did in the study caused the outcome (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Consequently, an educational setting may decrease the internal validity because it is done in a laboratory or other staged setting. In addition, an experimental design in an educational setting will decrease the external validity of the study. As a result, the study will not easily be reproduced in another setting or generalized to include other participants or location (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). Furthermore, depending on the educational setting the random selection and/or assignment of participants may be difficult since the participants may encounter long classroom hours or multiple trips to the testing site. Overall, an experiment design conducted in an educational setting will need to be aware of numerous confounds that could influence the study …show more content…
What is the Purpose of a Control Group? Of Single or Multiple Comparison Groups?
Control in an experiment is one of the most critical elements (Jackson, 2012). Therefore, control in an experiment is variables that the researcher must control so they do not lead to confounds (Jackson, 2012). As a result, the control group is the group that does not get changed or it serves as the standard condition (Jackson, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of the control group is to prove the cause and effect relationship exists by comparing the outcomes of the experimental group.
Single groups are used in experiment studies that have only a single treatment or program group and no control or comparison group (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). In addition, the multiple comparison groups are used in studies that use multiple groups, such as a control and a treatment group (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). The purpose of single groups are for designs that only have one group of participants that receive the treatment and are tested afterwards (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008). However, there are numerous threats to internal validity with only single group designs. As a result, the purpose of multiple groups is to have a control group and a treatment group in order, to compare the outcomes to ensure one causes the other (Trochim & Donnelly,
The purpose of the control group is the keep the experiment consistent throughout for the best results. For instance, four white carnations are placed in four vases with plain tap water. Two of them have other liquids added to them, making the plain tap water flowers the control group. They stay consistent
In most cases, scholars view research as large samples of subjects that are either participating in either two groups. Most research studies are considered as an experimental group whereby a treatment, independent variable (IV), or intervention is presented or a control group in which such interventions are not presented (Alberto & Troutman, 2016). Based on case study level C, Case 2, the independent variable is the treatment that is needed to change Rachel’s attitude in class. In the group designs, there is involvement of many subjects with each having an averaged performance, Dependent Variable which is comparable in the evaluation of experimental control. Therefore, Dependent variable in Rachel’s case is her behavior.
In our Penny Lab, we wanted to extend what we were told to do with experimental design. We’re doing this because we wanted to prove what he thought our hypothesis had been, and a hypothesis can not be true unless it can be tested. We investigated what variables made the Penny Lab easier, or harder. As a class we decided to investigate variables like, dropping the penny from the same height, and applying the same pressure to the penny for each drop. But first we had to know what variables were, and which variables we needed to use in the experiment. The variables were, the independent variable, dependent variable, the experimental group, and the control group. We investigated this to show how much water a penny could hold, but we introduced
In a laboratory study of sleep deprivation, researchers employed a variety of techniques to keep
A research design can be understood as the planning of any scientific research from the first to the last step. In this sense it is a program to guide the researcher in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting facts (Bless and Higson-Smith, 1995:63).
Instructions: This is a group activity that you will start in class and complete at home. For each of the following, note, whether the research design used is an experiment, a quasi-experiment, or a correlational approach and why. If a study is an experiment, identify the independent variable and the dependent variable. Please type your answers in complete sentences.
Ex. When conducting a research study a researcher could use a single-subject design when trying to see if; for exceptional students, an IEP should be conducted every year or twice a year, and which one improves the student’s
2. _C____ Divide your subjects in half. One group receives one treatment of the independent variable and the other group receives a different treatment of the independent variable. Subjects were all told they were going to see a video of a therapist's session after which they would rate the quality of the session. The groups differed in that the subjects in one group were told that prior evaluations indicated that the therapist was effective whereas subjects in the other group were told that the evaluations indicated the therapist was not effective. These different subjects were used for the two levels of the independent variable: subjects were in either the "effective therapist" or the "ineffective therapist" condition.
An experimental control is a test that lacks the experimental variable. Was one of the solutions prepared in this lab a control? If so, which one? Yes, the tap water being boiled at a 100.5 C that receives no added table salt is the experimental control.
8. The people who make up this article is the students from 7 different universities. It was rather representative because they were from universities that were located across the US, not just from one specific area. This was a unsystematic selection procedure because they weren’t from specific groups or students, just casual students from the seven different universities which created a representative sample of a big population.
Throughout this course I have learned many things about research at an introductory level. Research is a critical part of all of our lives in many ways. God blesses each of us with a degree of common sense and we all learn from observing others even as babies, we learned behaviors and skills by observing our parents. Walking through experiences throughout life teach us a lot we need to know as well but sometimes we have to take a better approach when we need to learn about certain things. Many of us know that what works in some situations or with certain individuals doesn’t always work or is the safest option for another situation. Controlled and precisely organized study allows scientists to compare and examine contrasting methods and concepts, also helps them to discover various approaches and be able to learn from individual’s behaviors and experiences. I will act as the case study throughout this paper in order to observe what I have learned about.
The Research Design Determine the most appropriate research design. Why two research design were selected and why two were not selected? What data collections instruments will be used? Survey? Interview? Other? I may select a qualitative and quantitative design only because the two together address different parts of the problem and together provide a richer, more multi-faceted response than either alone would. The qualitative aspect would give me an in-depth, rich perspective and allow me to plumb one aspect further whilst the quantitative investigation would base the investigation on a scientific, objective purview.
Quasi-experimental research, which was once considered ‘flawed’ and less superior to true experimental research, has become increasingly popular over the last three to four decades in many areas, especially the social sciences (Coolican, 2014, p. 121). It differs from true experimental research design in the way that quasi-experimental research doesn’t involve random assignment of participants to groups and often has less control over the independent variable (Follmer Greenhoot, 2003, p. 94; Coolican, 2014, p. 121). An
Quantitative research design is the standard experimental method of most scientific disciplines. These experiments are sometimes referred to as true science, and use traditional mathematical and statistical means to measure results conclusively. They are most commonly used by physical scientists, although social sciences, education and economics have been known to use this type of research. It is the opposite of qualitative research. Quantitative experiments all use a standard format, with a few minor inter-disciplinary differences, of generating a hypothesis to be proved or disproved. This hypothesis must be provable by mathematical and statistical means, and is the basis around which the whole experiment is designed. Randomization of any study groups is essential, and a control group should be included, wherever possible. A sound quantitative design should only manipulate one variable at a time, or statistical analysis becomes cumbersome and open to question. Ideally, the research should be constructed in a manner that allows others to repeat the experiment and obtain similar results.
Research design is the plan, the structure and strategy of investigation conceived as to obtain answer to research question and to