Video Lecture 1 2.

Quasi experiments - quasi means “resemblance”; are usually

done in classroom settings. It does not use randomization.
Key Terms in Experimental Design 3. True experiments - it uses randomization as well as experimental
1. Treatment - usually represented by “X”; an intervention and control group.
administered by the researchers to the experimental group. a) Post-test only control group design - test units are
2. Randomization - represented by “R”; in assigning samples this randomly assigned to experimental and control group. Only
should be applied to prevent biases. the experimental group is subject to intervention but both
3. Test - represented by “O”; a tool for measurement that is usually in groups will undergo a posttest.
a form of a questionnaire. b) Pretest - Posttest only design - both groups will take a
a) Pretest - the test before a treatment pretest and posttest.
b) Posttest - test after the treatment c) Solomon four group design - 2 sets of experimental and
4. Control - anything hold constant and can influence the outcome. control groups. One set will not undergo a pretest and the
other set will take a pretest.
Types of Experimental Design: d) Factorial design - There are 2 variables wherein each has 2
1. Pre-experimental - the simplest form and usually has no control levels.
group. 2 x 2 Factorial Design IV #1: Hours of Studying
a) One-shot case study - there is no control group. The sole 0 hours 10 hours
group of participants will take the treatment and then the IV #2: Hours of 2 hours DV: Scores DV: Scores
posttest afterwards. Sleep
Ex: Bullies (experimental group) will undergo counselling Person 1=50 Person 3=60
(treatment). After that, they will be observed (posttest). Person 2=54 Person 4=64
b) One-group pretest-posttest - one group will be measured
before and after the treatment. Cell mean=52 Cell mean=62
Ex: A 20-item attitude scale (pretest) is completed by 8 hours DV: Scores DV: Scores
students (experimental group). They then participate in
10-week counselling (treatment). Afterwards they take the Person 5=60 Person 7=80
same attitude scale (posttest). Person 6=62 Person 8=86
c) Statistic-group comparison - uses 2 groups wherein the
experimental group undergoes a treatment while the control Cell mean=52 Cell mean=83
group does not. The 2 groups will receive the same test after
the intervention.
 e) Randomized block design - experimental units are in a Video Lecture 2
block.
Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 T-test assumes normal distribution of the test statistic. It tests
Group 1 Treatment Group 5 Treatment Group 9 Treatment whether the mean of a population has a value specified in a null
B C A hypothesis. In short, it determines if a significant difference between
Group 2 Treatment Group 6 Control Group Treatment the means of 2 independent groups exist.
A 10 B
Group 3 Treatment Group 7 Treatment Group Control Central limiting theorem is the limiting form of the distribution of the
C A 11 average of n independent number of draws from a population
Group 4 Control Group 8 Treatment Group Treatment converges to the normal distribution as n → ∞
B 12 C
Binomial test is used to test a null hypothesis that an outcome arises
with probability p. This is useful for paired samples.
f) Cross over design - all participants receive all treatments,
but at different times.
Wilcoxon signed rank test is used to compare two sets of variables
Period 1 Period 2 that are either ordinal or numeric level of measurement from paired
Treatment B observations.
R Treatment A

Participants Washout Mann-Whitney U test is used to compare differences between

Period unpaired samples when the dependent variable is ordinal or numeric,
R Treatment B Treatment A but not normally distributed.

Kolmogrov-Smirnov test compares two empirical distributions.

Randomization Control Group Experimental
Group
Pre-experimental 
Quasi  
experimental
True   
experiments
 Video Lecture 3 3. Natural experiment - No control over the independent variables
since it occurs in a natural setting. This means it is high in ecological
A research is a process to discover new knowledge. Below are its validity. But is time consuming and expensive.
types, advantages, and disadvantages.
There is always a trade off:
Goal Pros Cons  Too much control means lesser ability to generalize.
Descriptive Create a Provide a relatively Does not assess  Too little control means lesser ability to make causal statements.
snapshot of the complete picture of relationship among
current state of an event at a given variables. May be
affairs time unethical if the
participants are not
aware that they are
being observed.
Correlational Explain Allows testing of Does not provide
relationships of relationships and inferences of causal
variables thus, prediction relationships among
enabling us to variables
predict future
events
Causal or Explore causal Allows drawing of Unable to manipulate
Experimental impacts of one conclusion about variables and is time
factor to causal relationships consuming and
another expensive

Types of experiment
Source: Runkel and McGrath (1972)
1. Laboratory experiment - conducted in a well-controlled
environment thus, allows precise control of independent variables. Obtrusive research operations - wherein you can conduct clear
But has low ecological validity. interventions and participants are aware that there is an investigation
2. Field experiment - manipulation of independent variable, but in a underway.
real-life setting thus, is more likely to reflect real life. But less control
can be imposed on independent variables.
Unobtrusive research operations - the opposite is true in this which Experiment design
investigators are not noticeable to the participants of the study.
1. Within-subjects (Repeated measures; related samples) is when
Universal behavioral systems - focuses on studying the general each participants are tested under all conditions.
actions made by most people. In other words, behaviors that is  Order effects is the effect of being tested in one condition on
universal to all people. participants’ behavior in later conditions.
 Counterbalancing tests different participants in different
Particular behavioral systems - focuses on certain behaviors that orders.
might be unique to a particular society or culture. 2. Between-subjects (Independent measures; unrelated samples)
is when each participant in only one condition. But individual
Experiment terms differences may cause systematic biases.
3. Matching is where participants are matched and assigned to
 Independent variables are the causal variables; the one conditions to ensure equal spread of ability on the experimental
manipulated. task between the conditions. We must assign them randomly.
 Dependent variables are those measured by the experimenter.
 Experimental condition is the group that is subject to a Rule of thumb: 20 participants per condition
treatment.
 Control condition is the group that receives no treatment just Statistical test
the constant or conventional.
 Null hypothesis states that IV does not affect DV. IV DV Test
 Alternative hypothesis states that IV affects DV. It can either be Categorical Numerical T-test
directional or non-directional. ANOVA
 Manipulation is the control over the IV to cause changes in MANOVA
experiment. It can be direct or environmental, modification of Categorical Categorical Chi-square
physical setting or indirect or instructional, the change of verbal Numerical Numerical PROCESS
instruction.
 Manipulation check refers to a test that is used to determine  Effect size is the magnitude of difference between the conditions
whether the manipulation is effective in an experimental design to in an experiment.
see if it yields the intended effects.  Power is the capacity of the experiment to correctly reject the null
hypothesis. The more powerful it is, the smaller effect size it can
 detect. Ways to increase power include increase number of
participants, use related sample design, and increase
significance level (a= 0.1)

Tips
 There is no such thing as the right way to design an experiment.
 Reliable measure of DV
 Pilot testing to see the floor or ceiling effect
 Post-experimental interview
 Randomize properly: excel