Experimental designs fall into two categories: experiments done in an artificial or contrived environment, known as lab experiments, and

those done in the natural environment in which activities regularly take place, known as the field experiment.

The Lab Experiment As stated earlier, when a cause-and-effect relationship between an independent and a dependent variable of interest is to be clearly established, then all other variables that might contaminate or confound the relationship have to be tightly controlled. In other words, the possible effects of other variables on the dependent variable have to be accounted for in some way, so that the actual causal effects of the investigated independent variable on the dependent variable can be determined. It is also necessary to manipulate the independent variable so that the extent of its causal effects can be established. The controls and manipulations are best done in an artificial setting (the laboratory), where the causal effects can be tested. When controls and manipulations are introduced to establish causeand-effect relationships in an artificial setting, we have laboratory experimental designs, also known as lab experiments. Seperti yang dinyatakan sebelumnya, ketika hubungan sebab-akibat antara independen dan variabel dependen yang menarik yang akan ditetapkan dengan jelas, maka semua variabel lain yang mungkin mencemari atau mengacaukan hubungan harus dikontrol ketat. Dengan kata lain, kemungkinan efek variabel lain terhadap variabel dependen harus diperhitungkan dalam beberapa cara, sehingga efek kausal yang sebenarnya dari variabel independen yang diteliti terhadap variabel dependen dapat ditentukan. Hal ini juga diperlukan untuk memanipulasi variabel independen sehingga tingkat efek kausal yang dapat dibentuk. Kontrol dan manipulasi yang terbaik dilakukan dalam pengaturan buatan (laboratorium), di mana efek kausal dapat diuji. Ketika kontrol dan manipulasi diperkenalkan untuk membangun hubungan sebab-akibat dalam pengaturan buatan, kami memiliki laboratorium desain eksperimental, juga dikenal sebagai percobaan laboratorium. Control When we postulate cause-and-effect relationships between two variables X and Y, it is possible that some other factor, say A, might also influence the dependent variable Y. In such a case, it will not be possible to determine the extent to which Y occurred only because of X, since we do not know how much of the total variation of Y was caused by the presence of the other factor A. Manipulation of the independent variable In order to examine the causal effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable, certain manipulations need to be tried. Manipulation simply means that we create different levels of the independent variable to assess the impact on the dependent variable. Manipulation of the independent variable is also known as the treatment, and the results of the treatment are called treatment effects. Controlling the contaminating of nuisance variables Matching Group

One way of controlling the contaminating or nuisance variables is to match the various groups by picking the confounding characteristics and deliberately spreading them across groups. Randomization
Another way of controlling the contaminating variables is to assign the 60 members randomly (i.e., with no predetermination) to the four groups. That is, every member would have a known and equal chance of being assigned to any of these four groups. The process of randomization would ideally ensure that each group is comparable to the other, and that all variables, including the effects of age, sex and previous experience are controlled. In other words, each of the groups will have some members who have more experience mingled with those who have less or no experience. Compared to randomization, matching might be less effective, since we may not know all the factors that could possibly contaminate the cause-and- effect relationship in any given situation, and hence fail to match some critical factors across all groups while conducting an experiment. Randomization, how- ever, will take care of this, since all the contaminating factors will be spread across all groups. Moreover, even if we know the confounding variables, we may not be able to find a match for all such variables. Internal validity of lab experiments External validity refers to the extent of generalizability of the results of a causal study to other settings, people, or events, and internal validity refers to the degree of our confidence in the causal effects (i.e., that variable X causes variable Y). Field experiments have more external validity (i.e., the results are more generalizable to other similar organizational settings), but less internal validity (i.e., we cannot be certain of the extent to which variable X alone causes variable Y). There is thus a trade-off between internal validity and external validity. If we want high internal validity, we should be willing to settle for lower external validity and vice versa. To ensure both types of validity, researchers usually try first to test the causal relationships in a tightly controlled artificial or lab setting, and once the relationship has been established, they try to test the causal relationship in a field experiment. Lab experimental designs in the management area have thus far been done to assess, among other things, gender differences in leadership styles, managerial aptitudes, and so on. Certain events or factors that would have an impact on the independent variable dependent variable relationship might unexpectedly occur while the experiment is in progress, and this history of events would confound the cause-and-effect relationship between the two variables, thus affecting the internal validity.

IDENTIFIKASI ANCAMAN TERHADAP KEABSAHAN INTERNAL

If there are several threats to internal validity even in a tightly controlled lab experiment, it should become quite clear why we cannot draw conclusions about causal relationships from case studies that describe the events that occurred during a particular time. Unless a well-designed experimental study, randomly assigning members to experimental and control groups and successfully manipulating the treatment, indicates possible causal relationships, it would be impossible to say which factor causes another. The following practices are considered unethical: Putting pressure on individuals to participate in experiments through coercion, or applying social pressure. Giving menial tasks and asking demeaning questions that diminish their self- respect. Deceiving subjects by deliberately misleading them as to the true purpose of the research. Exposing participants to physical or mental stress. Not allowing subjects to withdraw from the research when they want to. Using the research results to disadvantage the participants, or for purposes not to their liking. Not explaining the procedures to be followed in the experiment. Exposing respondents to hazardous and unsafe environments as we saw earlier in the case of Johns Hopkins University. Not debriefing participants fully and accurately after the experiment is over. Not preserving the privacy and confidentiality of the information given by the participants. Withholding benefits from control groups.