Unit 9 - Experimentation

Question 1

what is causal research?

Answer 1

a type of conclusive research where the major objective is to obtain evidence regarding cause and effect relationships

Question 2

what is causality?

Answer 2

when the occurrence of x increases the probability of the occurrence of y

Question 3

what is the relationship between cause and effect ?

Answer 3

it tends to be probabilistic

Question 4

can we prove causality?

Answer 4

we can never prove causality, we can only infer a cause-effect relationship

Question 5

what are the conditions for causality?

Answer 5

• concomitant variation
• time order of occurrence of variables
• elimination of other possible causal factors

Question 6

what is concomitant variation?

Answer 6

it is the extent to which a cause, x, and an effect, y, occur together or vary together as predicted by the hypothesis under consideration

Question 7

comment on time order of occurrence of variables

Answer 7

the causing event must occur either before or simultaneously with the effect, it cannot occur afterwards

Question 8

comment on absence of other possible causal factors

Answer 8

it means that the factor or variable being investigated should be the only possible causal explanation

Question 9

What is an experiment?

Answer 9

the process of manipulating one or more independent variables and measuring their effect on one or more dependent variables, while controlling for the extraneous variables

Question 10

What is an independent variable?

Answer 10

variable that is changed

variable that is manipulated

Question 11

what is a dependent variable?

Answer 11

variable affected by the change

variable that is measured

Question 12

what is an extraneous variable?

Answer 12

variable that must be controlled

Question 13

an experimental design is a set of procedures specifying:

Answer 13

1 the test units and how these units are to be divided into homogenous subsamples
2 what independent variables are to be manipulated
3. what dependent variables are to be measured
4. how the extraneous variables are to be controlled

Question 14

what is a field experiment?

Answer 14

an experimental location set in actual market conditions

Question 15

what is a lab experiment?

Answer 15

an artificial setting for experimentation in which the researcher constructs the desired conditions

Question 16

what is the moderator variable?

Answer 16

third variable that affects strength of relationship between two other variables

Question 17

what is the mediator variable?

Answer 17

third variable that acts as generative mechanism between two other variables

Question 18

What are the steps to designing an experiment?

Answer 18

1. Identify the issue or question of interest
2. Review relevant literature and theories
3. Develop questions and hypothesis
4. Identify dependent and independent variables
5. Conduct the study
6. Use descriptive statistics to describe data
7. Use inferential statistics to evaluate the hypothesis
8. Accept or reject the hypothesis
9. Prepare formal report for publication

Question 19

What are the 2 goals of researchers when conducting experiments?

Answer 19

1. draw valid conclusions

2. make valid generalizations

Question 20

What is internal validity?

Answer 20

It measures whether the manipulation of the independent variables, or treatments, actually caused the effects on the dependent variable(s).

Question 21

What is external validity?

Answer 21

It measures whether the cause-and-effect relationships found in the experiment can be generalized.

Question 22

What are the limitations to experimentation?

Answer 22

• cost:
• time:
• administration: Experiments can be difficult to administer.