Experimental Design I: Single Factors

Question 1

In single factor designs, what does the term ‘factor’ mean?

Answer 1

Factor = independent variable

Question 2

What 4 research designs can be called single-factor designs?

Answer 2

1. Independent groups design
2. Matched groups design
3. Ex post facto design
4. Repeated measures design

Question 3

The simplest single-factor designs are those with ___ levels

Answer 3

two

Question 4

In a independent groups, matched groups, and ex post facto designs, is the independent variable between or within?

Answer 4

between

Question 5

In a repeated measures design is the independent variable between or within?

Answer 5

within

Question 6

In a within-subjects design if subjects participate in each condition just once, __________ counterbalancing will be used

Answer 6

complete

Question 7

What does complete counterbalancing entail in a within‐subjects design with a single independent variable and two levels?

Answer 7

Half of the participants will experience condition A and then B, and the rest will get B and then A

Question 8

In a within-subjects design if subjects are tested more than once per condition, ____________ counterbalancing will be used

Answer 8

reverse

Question 9

What does reverse counterbalancing entail in a within-subjects design with a single independent variable and two levels?

Answer 9

i.e., ABBA

Question 10

What are two other counterbalancing techniques (in addition to complete and reverse) for a study with two conditions and each condition is being tested many times?

Answer 10

1. Alternate conditions (i.e., ABAB)

2. Present conditions randomly

Question 11

Single-factor studies that use three or more levels are called…

Answer 11

single-factor multilevel designs

Question 12

One distinct advantage to multilevel designs is that they enable the researcher to discover…

Answer 12

non-linear effects (i.e., Yerkes-Dodson Law)

Question 13

In addition to identifying nonlinear relationships, single‐factor multilevel designs can also…

Answer 13

test for specific alternative hypotheses

Question 14

If the independent variable is manipulated between‐subjects or is a subject variable, then the type of graph to use is a…

Answer 14

bar graph
**The reason for this is because the levels of the independent variable represent separate groups of individuals, so the data in the graph should best reflect separate groups, or separate bars

Question 15

If the independent variable is a within‐subjects manipulated or subject variable, then it is appropriate to use a…

Answer 15

line graph
**The reason for this is because participants are experiencing all levels of that independent variable, so the data should “connect” in a more continuous way

Question 16

To determine whether the differences found between the conditions of a single‐factor design are significant or due to chance… is required

Answer 16

inferential statistical analysis

Question 17

An inferential statistical decision to reject or not reject the null hypothesis in a study depends on analyzing two types of variability in the data…

Answer 17

1. Systematic variance

2. Error variance

Question 18

Systematic variance

Answer 18

The result of an identifiable factor, either the variable of interest or some factor that you’ve failed to control adequately (such as confounds)

Question 19

Error variance

Answer 19

Non-systematic variability due to individual differences between subjects in the groups and any number of random, unpredictable effects that might have occurred during the study

Question 20

The ideal outcome in an inferential statistical analysis is to find that variability between conditions is ______ and variability within each condition is ______

Answer 20

large; small

Question 21

Inferential statistical tests can be either _________ tests or _________ tests

Answer 21

parametric; nonparametric

Question 22

Parametric test

Answer 22

Tests which have certain assumptions (or parameters) that are required to best estimate the population

Question 23

Nonparametric test

Answer 23

These tests do not have the same assumptions as parametric tests and can be used if violations of the parameters for your ideal statistical test occur

Question 24

There are two varieties of the t‐test for comparing two sets of scores:

Answer 24

1. Independent samples t-test

2. Dependent (or paired) samples t-test

Question 25

Independent samples t-test is used for what two designs?

Answer 25

Independent groups designs and ex post facto designs

Question 26

Dependent (or paired) samples t-test is used for what two designs?

Answer 26

Matched groups designs and repeated measures design

Question 27

The t‐test is a parametric statistic entailing what two assumptions?

Answer 27

1. Normal distribution of data

2. Homogeneity of variance

Question 28

Completing multiple t‐tests increases the risks of making a ______ error

Answer 28

type II

Question 29

To avoid the problem of multiple t‐tests in single‐factor designs, researchers typically use a procedure called a…

Answer 29

one-way (or one-factor) ANOVA

Question 30

What does a one-way ANOVA test for?

Answer 30

Tests for the presence of an overall significant effect that could exist somewhere between the levels of the independent variable

Question 31

Rejecting the null hypothesis in a one-way ANOVA does not identify which condition differs from which. To determine which condition is significantly different from another requires subsequent testing or _________ analysis

Answer 31

post hoc

Question 32

Three types of control group designs that are most informative when used in the context of multilevel experimental designs:

Answer 32

1. Placebo Controls
2. Wait List Controls
3. Yoked Controls

Question 33

Yoked control group design

Answer 33

Each participant is paired with a participant in another group; the paired individuals are then exposed to the same experiences except for the specific treatment or other condition under the study

Question 34

Placebo control group design

Answer 34

Participants in a placebo control group are led to believe that they are receiving a particular treatment, when they are not

Question 35

Waitlist control group design

Answer 35

Participants in the experimental group are in a program to help alleviate a problem they are suffering from. Participants in the control group are experiencing the same problem but will not be placed in the program till the study is over.