Stats Flashcards
Define: Control Group
A group that is similar to the group receiving the intervention.
Types of Experiment?
Completely Randomised Block Design
Randomised Block Design
Define: Completely Randomised Block Design
Treatments are allocated entirely by chance.
Define: Randomised Block Design
Group paprticipants according to some characteristic and then randomise within each block to balance out unknown factors.
Define: Single Blinding
Either the participant knows or the researcher knows who has received which treatment.
Define: Double Blinding
Neither the researcher nor the participant knows who has received which treatment. In this situation participants are randomly allocated to treatment groups for the researchers by a thrid party.
Only after measurements are treatment groups revealed.
Double Blinding > Single Blinding
Define: Placebo
This is essentially no treatment, but a participant will not know that they have not received any treatment.
Define: Placebo effect
This is an observed actual response to receiving a placebo.
Define: Response Variables
Variables of interest in your experiment. The values of these variables will be measured during the experiment.
I.e. Response to a pill or diet might be measured.
Define: Explanatory Variables
The variable that attempts to explain or cause the changes observed in the response vairable.
I.e. This might be a new drug or diet. All other variables must be unchanged.
Define: Treatment
The intervention that the experiment is attempting to observe.
I.e. Drug dosage, food supplement, fertiliser.
Define: Randomisation
Ensures that all participants are equally likely to receive treatments.
Define: Confounding or Lurking Variable
A variable that is not under scrutiny but affects the results of the experiment.
I.e. “People who drink more alcohol hace a shorter life expectancy”, confounding variable could be smoking.
Define: Replications
The number of times an experiment is repeated.
What makes a good Experiment?
- Random Allocation to treatment groups
- Use of a Control Group
- Use of a Placebo
- Use of Blinding
Define: Random Allocation
Used in experiments to ensure that all experimental unit have the same probability of receiving each treatment option.
Define: Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne effect is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.
Types of Observational Studies
Cross-sectional
Longitudinal