Chapter 13

Question 1

How are quasi-experiments different from true experiments?

Answer 1

Quasi-experiments do not have full experimental control. They select an independent variable and a dependent variable

Question 2

How do quasi-experiments support causal claims? What do they evaluate?

Answer 2

When a quasi-experiment includes a comparison group and the right pattern of results, researchers may support a causal claim, even when participants cannot be randomly assigned to conditions and the
researchers do not have complete experimental control of the independent variable.

Question 3

What are the major differences between small-N designs and large-N designs?

Answer 3

Instead of gathering a little information from a larger sample, small-N design obtains a lot of information from just a few cases

Question 4

What is in quasi-experiments?

Answer 4

1. Independent-groups
   designs - a nonequivalent control group design () and a nonequivalent control group pretest/posttest design ().
2. Within-groups designs - an interrupted time-series design () or a nonequivalent control group interrupted time-series design ().

Question 5

How do you evaluate a quasi-experiment?

Answer 5

By looking at its vulnerablity to alternative explanations through its:
1. Selection
2. Maturation
3. History
4. Regression
5. Attrition
6. Testing
7. Instrumentation effects
8. Observer biases
9. Demand characteristics
10. Placebo effects

Question 6

What validities do researchers value in quasi-experiments?

Answer 6

In quasi-experiments, researchers balance confidence
in internal validity with other priorities, such as opportunities to study ethically in a real-world
situation or to take advantage of a political event.

Question 7

What are small-N studies?

Answer 7

Small-N studies balance an intense, systematic investigation of one or a few people against the usual approach of studying groups of people. The internal
validity of small-N studies can be just as high as that of repeated-measures experiments conducted on larger samples.

Question 8

What are the 3 types of small-N designs?

Answer 8

1. Stable-baseline design -
2. Multiple-baseline design -
3. Reversal design -

Question 9

How can small-N designs establish construct, external and internal validity?

Answer 9

They can achieve external validity
by replicating the results in other settings. In applied settings, researchers might prioritize the ability to establish a treatment’s effectiveness for a single
individual over broad generalizability.