Nama : Ewaldo Fernando

NIM : F0317040

Chapter 10

Experimental Designs

THE LAB EXPERIMENT

When control and manipulation are introduced to establish cause‐and‐effect relationships in an

artificial setting, we have laboratory experimental designs, also known as lab experiments.

- Control means researcher have to control the contaminating factors

- Manipulation means that we create different levels of the independent variable to assess
the impact on the dependent variable.

Controlling the contaminating exogenous or “nuisance” variables

- Matching groups
One way of controlling the contaminating or “nuisance” variables is to match the various
groups by picking the confounding characteristics and deliberately spreading them across
groups.
- Randomization
The process of randomization ideally ensures that each group is comparable to the others,
and that all variables, including the effects of age, sex, and previous experience, are
controlled. In other words, each of the groups will have some members who have more
experience mingled with those who have less or no experience. All groups will have
members of different age and sex composition.

Internal validity of lab experiments

Internal validity refers to the confidence that place in the cause‐and‐effect relationship. in
research with high internal validity, we are relatively better able to argue that the relationship is
causal, whereas in studies with low internal validity, causality cannot be inferred at all. In lab
experiments where cause‐and‐effect relationships are substantiated, internal validity can be said
to be high.

1
Nama : Ewaldo Fernando
NIM : F0317040

External validity or generalizability of lab experiments

The tasks in organizational settings are far more complex, and there might be several
confounding variables that cannot be controlled – for example, experience. Under such
circumstances, we cannot be sure that the cause‐and‐effect relationship found in the lab
experiment is necessarily likely to hold true in the field setting. To test the causal relationships in
the organizational setting, field experiments are carried out.

THE FIELD EXPERIMENT

A field experiment, as the name implies, is an experiment done in the natural environment in
which work (or life) goes on as usual, but treatments are given to one or more groups. Thus, in
the field experiment, even though it may not be possible to control all the nuisance variables
because members cannot be either randomly assigned to groups, or matched, the treatment can
still be manipulated.

EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL VALIDITY IN EXPERIMENTS

External validity refers to the extent of generalizability of the results of a causal study to other
settings, people, or events, and internal validity refers to the degree of our confidence in the
causal effects.

Trade-off between internal and external validity

There is thus a trade‐off between internal validity and external validity. If we want high internal
validity, we should be willing to settle for lower external validity and vice versa.

Factors affecting the validity of experiments

- History effects
- Maturation effects
- Testing effects
- Selection bias effects
- Mortality effects
- Statistical regression effects

2
Nama : Ewaldo Fernando
NIM : F0317040

- Instrumentation effects

TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND VALIDITY

- Quasi-experimental designs : Pretest and posttest experimental group design, Posttests

only with experimental and control groups, Time series design.
- True experimental designs : Pretest and posttest experimental and control group design,
Solomon four-group design, Double-blind studies.
- Ex post facto designs

SIMULATION

Simulation uses a model‐building technique to determine the effects of changes. Simulations

are becoming popular in business research. A simulation can be thought of as an experiment
conducted in a specially created setting that very closely represents the natural environment
in which activities are usually carried out. In that sense, the simulation lies somewhere
between a lab and a field experiment, insofar as the environment is artificially created but not
too different from “reality.”

ETHICAL ISSUES IN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN RESEARCH

- Putting pressure on individuals to participate in experiments through coercion, or

applying social pressure
- Giving menial tasks and asking demeaning questions that diminish participants’ self‐
respect.
- Deceiving subjects by deliberately misleading them as to the true purpose of the research.
- Exposing participants to physical or mental stress.
- Not allowing subjects to withdraw from the research when they want to.
- Using the research results to disadvantage the participants, or for purposes not to their
liking.
- Not explaining the procedures to be followed in the experiment.
- Exposing respondents to hazardous and unsafe environments.

3
Nama : Ewaldo Fernando
NIM : F0317040

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

1. Is it really necessary to identify causal relationships, or would it suffice if the correlates that
account for the variance in the dependent variable were known?

2. If it is important to trace the causal relationships, which of the two, internal validity or external
validity, is needed more, or are both needed? If only internal validity is important, a carefully
designed lab experiment is the answer; if generalizability is the more important criterion, then a
field experiment is called for; if both are equally important, then a lab study should be first
undertaken, followed by a field experiment (if the results of the former warrant the latter).

3. Is cost an important factor in the study? If so, would a less rather than a more sophisticated
experimental design do?