Methods

Question 1

What elements/parts are in the Methods Section?

Answer 1

Subjects/Participants
Experimental Materials
Procedure
Data Analyses/ Statistical Analyses

Question 2

Significance of Method Section

Answer 2

-if the methodology is wrong, then all goes wrong
-should provide the research design to answer the research questions (or hypothesis)
-critical for evaluation of the results and discussion sections

Question 3

Sample Size

Answer 3

-larger is better
- if the goal is to generalize data, the sample size has to be larger
-between-subject designs require a larger n than within-subject designs
-standardized test batteries and survey research require larger n
-if small group differences are expected, larger n should be used to demonstrate statistically significant differences

Question 4

Subjects Protection

Answer 4

Institutional Review Board (IRB), protection of subjects from risk for human subjects

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the protection of human subjects’ privacy and confidentiality

Question 5

Two experimental validities related to subjects

Answer 5

Internal Validity- make sure you have unbiased and well-controlled subjects
- the extent to which an experiment accurately measures what it intended to measure

External Validity- make sure you have an unbiased and enough size of sample for generalization of your findings which is important in a clinical study

Question 6

Threats to Internal and External Validity

Answer 6

-Internal
History
Maturation
Reactive Pretest
Instrumentation
Statistical regression
Differential subject selection
Attrition
Interaction of factors

-External

Question 7

External Generality

Answer 7

Inferential
Logical

Question 8

Ways to control external validity better

Answer 8

Subject randomization- it can help that the sample represents the population better

Larger sample size- better represents the population and improves generalizability

Question 8

Experimental Materials

Answer 8

• authors present enough details about materials
• define IV & DC clearly and appropriately
  -behavioral materials or instruments described with detailed information
  -Instrumentation measurement devices and their calibration

Question 8

Procedures

Answer 8

Tasks and protocol- sequence of tasks performed by the subjects

Test Environment- noise levels, settings, clinic or lab? how many hours per day?

Instructions- for the completion of their tasks must be clear and appropriate for the population being measured

Data collection bias- data recording errors due to dishonesty, carelessness, inconsistency, and lack of knowledge, observers interaction with the subject changes the subjects behavioral responses

Question 9

Data analysis/statistical analyses

Answer 9

The last portion of the method section describes how data will statistically be analyzed