Research Methods in Psychology II

Chapter 6: Independent Groups Designs

Learning outcomes achieved with this lecture:

The students who succeeded in this course;

• Will be able to distinguish experimental methods from descriptive
methods.
• Will be able to explain the key concepts of the experimental method and
identify these concepts in experimental studies.
• Will be able to identify different types of experimental research used in
research.

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 Chapter Outline
• WHY PSYCHOLOGISTS CONDUCT • ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF
EXPERIMENTS EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS
• LOGIC OF EXPERIMENTAL • The Role of Data Analysis in Experiments
RESEARCH
• Describing the Results
• RANDOM GROUPS DESIGN
• Confirming What the Results Reveal
– An Example of a Random
• What Data Analysis Can’t Tell Us
Groups Design
• ESTABLISHING THE EXTERNAL VALIDITY OF
– Block Randomization
EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS
– Threats to Internal Validity
• MATCHED GROUPS DESIGN
• NATURAL GROUPS DESIGN

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 Why Psychologists Conduct Experiments?
• To make empirical tests of hypotheses they derive from psychological
theories
– If the results of the experiment are consistent with what is predicted by the
hypothesis, then the theory receives support.
– On the other hand, if the results differ from what was expected, then the
theory may need to be modified and a new hypothesis developed and tested
in another experiment.

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 Why Psychologists Conduct Experiments?
• Experiments allow researchers to decide whether a treatment or program
effectively changes behavior.
• Well-conducted experiments also help to solve society’s problems by
providing vital information about the effectiveness of treatments in a wide
variety of areas.

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 Logic of Experimental Research
• True experiment involves the manipulation of one or more factors and the
measurement (observation) of the effects of this manipulation on
behavior.
• The factors the researcher controls or manipulates are called the
independent variables.
– must have at least two levels (also called conditions).
– Treatment/experimental condition
– control (or comparison) condition.
– more than two levels are used for additional comparisons between
groups

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 Logic of Experimental Research
• The measures used to
observe the effect (if any)
of the independent
variables are called
dependent variables.
• One way to remember the
distinction between these
two types of variables is to
understand that the
outcome (dependent
variable) depends on the
independent variable.

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 Logic of Experimental Research
• Three types of dependent variable in most experiments:
– Self-report measures
– Behavioral measures
– Physiological measures

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 Logic of Experimental Research

• Experiments are effective for testing hypotheses because they allow

us to exercise a relatively high degree of control in a situation.
• Researchers use control in experiments to be able to state with
confidence that the independent variable caused the observed
changes in the dependent variable.
• The three conditions needed to make a causal inference are:
– covariation,
– time-order relationship, and
– elimination of plausible alternative causes/confounding
variables

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 Logic of Experimental Research

• Covariation
– a relationship between the independent and dependent variables of an
experiment.

• A time-order relationship
– researchers manipulate an independent variable and then observe a
subsequent difference in behavior
– How we manipulate a variable?

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 Logic of Experimental Research

• How we manipulate a variable?

• Mazer, Murphy, and Simonds (2009) study on the effect of college
teacher self disclosure on perceptions of teacher effectiveness
• Students read one of three Facebook profiles that were created for
a volunteer teacher, one for each of the high-, medium-, and low-
disclosure conditions.
• How disclosure is manipulated?

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 Logic of Experimental Research

• How we manipulate a variable?

• Mazer, Murphy, and Simonds (2009) study on the effect of college
teacher self disclosure on perceptions of teacher effectiveness
• Students read one of three Facebook profiles that were created for
a volunteer teacher, one for each of the high-, medium-, and low-
disclosure conditions.
• Level of disclosure was manipulated by:
– changing the number and nature of photographs, biographical
information, favorite movies/books/quotes, campus groups, and posts
on the wall

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 Logic of Experimental Research

• Covariation
– a relationship between the independent and dependent variables of an
experiment.

• A time-order relationship
– researchers manipulate an independent variable and then observe a
subsequent difference in behavior

• Elimination of plausible alternative causes:

– holding conditions constant
– balancing

• internal validity

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Independent Groups Designs

• Different individuals participate in each condition of the

experiment.
– No overlap of participants across conditions
• Three types:
– Random groups design
– Matched groups design
– Natural groups design

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 Random Groups Design
• In an independent groups design;
– each group of subjects participates in a different condition of the independent variable.

• When random assignment to conditions is used, the independent groups

design is called a random groups design.
– uses random assignment of subjects to conditions in order to form comparable groups
prior to implementing the independent variable.
– The groups are formed so as to be similar on all important characteristics at the start of
the experiment.
– The groups are treated the same except for the level of the independent variable.
– Thus, any difference between the groups on the dependent variable must be caused by
the independent variable.

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An Example of a Random Groups Design
• Dittmar, Halliwell, and Ive (2006)

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An Example of a Random Groups Design

• The goal of the study: to determine whether exposure to very thin body
images causes young girls to experience negative feelings about their own
body.
• Why they conducted this study?
– Many experiments conducted with adolescent and adult participants demonstrate that
women report greater dissatisfaction about themselves after exposure to a thin female
model compared to other types of images.
– Dittmar and her colleagues sought to determine whether similar effects are observed
for girls as young as 5 years old.

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An Example of a Random Groups Design

• The very thin body image they tested was

the Barbie doll.
• Anthropological studies that compare the
body proportions of Barbie to actual
women reveal that the Barbie doll has
very unrealistic body proportions, yet
Barbie has become a sociocultural ideal
for female beauty.

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An Example of a Random Groups Design

• In the experiment small groups of young girls (51⁄2 – 61⁄2 years old) were
read a story about “Mira” as she went shopping for clothes and prepared
to go to a birthday party.
• While they heard the story, the girls looked at picture books with six
scenes related to the story.
– In one condition of the experiment, the picture books had images of Barbie in the
scenes of the story (e.g., shopping for a party outfit, getting ready for the party).

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An Example of a Random Groups Design

• In the experiment small groups of young girls (51⁄2 – 61⁄2 years old) were
read a story about “Mira” as she went shopping for clothes and prepared
to go to a birthday party.
• While they heard the story, the girls looked at picture books with six
scenes related to the story.
– In one condition of the experiment, the picture books had images of Barbie in the
scenes of the story (e.g., shopping for a party outfit, getting ready for the party).
– In a second condition the picture books had similar scenes but the figure pictured was
the “Emme” doll.
– The Emme fashion doll is an attractive doll with more realistic body proportions,
representing a U.S. dress size.

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An Example of a Random Groups Design

• In the experiment small groups of young girls (51⁄2 – 61⁄2 years old) were
read a story about “Mira” as she went shopping for clothes and prepared
to go to a birthday party.
• While they heard the story, the girls looked at picture books with six
scenes related to the story.
– In one condition of the experiment, the picture books had images of Barbie in the
scenes of the story (e.g., shopping for a party outfit, getting ready for the party).
– In a second condition the picture books had similar scenes but the figure pictured was
the “Emme” doll.
– The Emme fashion doll is an attractive doll with more realistic body proportions,
representing a U.S. dress size.
– Finally, in the third condition of the experiment the picture books did not depict Barbie
or Emme (or any body) but, instead, showed neutral images related to the story (e.g.,
windows of clothes shops, colorful balloons).

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An Example of a Random Groups Design

• These three versions of the picture

books (Barbie, Emme, neutral)
represent three levels of the
independent variable that was
manipulated in the experiment.
• IV: version of picture book with 3
levels
– Barbie (very thin body image)
– Emme (realistic body image)
– Neutral (no body images)

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