Week 5 - Experimental part 1

Question 1

describe the control techniques that are carried out at the beginning of the experiment and during the experiment

Answer 1

Beginning -
random assignment to treatment and matching (making groups as similar as possible, controls extraneous variables)

During -
Counterbalancing (randomising order of treatments etc), participant effects (do single blind design so groups don’t know if they’re control or tmt) and experimenter effects (double blind so neither participant and researcher don’t know which group is control or tmt)

Question 2

identify each of the weak and strong experimental designs

Answer 2

Weak experimental designs-
One group post test only
One group pre test and post test
Post test only with non-equivalent groups.

Strong experimental designs-
Between participants (One control, one tmt, measured after)
Within participant (1 or more experimental groups measured after)
Mixed design (mix of techniques from between and within participants designs.

Question 3

explain the considerations made when deciding upon the appropriate experimental design.

Answer 3

Research question (which design is best?)
Designs on previous research  (more complex design needed?)