Notes

Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Designs

Scenario 1

Type of Design: Between Subjects

Main Reason: When ability on something like memory recall, carryover effects will be inevitable
with a within subjects design. Between subjects is how we negate those.

Scenario 2

Type of Design:

Main Reason:

Scenario 3

Type of Design:

Main Reason:

Scenario 4

Type of Design:

Main Reason:

Scenario 5

Type of Design:

Main Reason:
 Between-Subjects vs. Within-Subjects Designs

For each research scenario below, think about what it would mean to use a between-subjects design and
a within-subjects design. Then discuss the pros and cons of using a between-subjects design and a
within-subjects design and try to reach a consensus on which kind of design is better.

1. A researcher wants to see if the taking longhand notes or laptop notes results in better recall of the
material in a lecture.

2. In a study we are currently conducting on my research team, we are showing subjects photographs of
groups of people and asking them to judge the average attractiveness of the people in the groups. The
independent variable is the number of people in the group: 3, 6, or 9. We think that the more people there
are in the group, the more attractive subjects will judge them to be.

3. A psychologist wants to see whether people’s moods affect their memory ability. She plans to give
people memory tests after putting them into happy and/or sad moods.

4. A researcher wants to know whether there is a placebo effect on pain. His experiment will have a
condition in which people immerse their hands in ice cold water and rate the amount of pain they feel, and
a condition in which they do the same thing after taking a fake pill that they are told is a new pain relief
drug.

5. A researcher wants to know whether the race of a student affects how harsh a punishment he or she
receives. Participants will be teachers who are tested online. They will see pictures of elementary school
students and read descriptions of some kind of trouble the students got into. Then they will rate how
severely the students should be punished.