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Agenda
Describe features of experimental design Define and describe measures to eliminate bias and reduce the influence of sampling error
Key Terms
Confounding Experimental artifact Experimental design components Goal of experimental design Control group Randomization Completely randomized design Single blind Double blind Blinding Replication Balance Blocking Randomized block design Extreme treatments Factor Factorial design Interaction Matching Sample size
Correlational Studies
Naturalistic observation Archival research Surveys and questionnaires
One of the most common of methods in social sciences Random sample of participants completes a survey, test, or questionnaire that relates to the variables of interest Random sampling is vital to generalizability of results
Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/correlational.htm
Observational Research
Involves observing and recording the variables of interest in the natural environment without interference or manipulation by the researcher
Confounding Variable
Variables other than the variable that you manipulate that can have an effect on the response variable Can increase the variance of the measurements of the response variable Masks or distorts the causal relationship between an explanatory variable and a response variable in a study
Overview of Experiments
Must be at least two treatments Experimenter must assign treatment to the research participant or subject Random assignment minimizes influence of confounding variables, fostering isolation of the effects of the treatment variable
Differences between groups would be caused by the treatment
Design Components
A good experiment is designed with two objectives
-Reduce bias in estimating treatment effects -Reduce effects of sampling error Bias Simultaneous control group Randomization Blinding Sampling error Replication Balance Blocking
Goal of Experiments
Eliminate bias
Reduced by use of controls, randomization, and blinding
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Experimental Artifacts
Bias in a measurement produced by unintended consequences of experimental procedures Conduct under conditions as natural as possible
Observational studies can provide important insight into what is the best setting for an experiment
Simulated use environment is used in medical device testing Clinical trials are conducted in hospitals/clinics
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Blinding
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Reducing Bias
Random Assignment
Reducing Bias
Blinding Preventing knowledge of the experimenter (or subject) of which treatment is given to whom Unblinded studies usually find much larger effects(even threefold) demonstrating bias that results from lack of blinding Blinding measures
Single-blind Double-blind
Reducing Bias
Randomization
No confounding variables will be associated with treatment except by chance Completely randomized design
Treatments are assigned to experimental units by randomization Reduces bias due to confounding variables by making nonexperimental variables equal between treatments
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A factorial design is the most common experimental design used to investigate more than one treatment variable, or factor at the same time In a factorial design, every combination of treatments from two or more treatment variables is investigated 18
Interactions
An interaction between two or more explanatory variables means that the effect of one variable depends upon the state of the other variable
The main purpose of a factorial design is to evaluate possible interactions between variables An interaction means that the effect of one variable on the response depends on the state of a second variable
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Examples of Interactions
http://courses.washington.edu/smartpsy/interactions.htm
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Questions
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