Crim Experimental Methods Assignment

Experimental Methods Assignment

Due Friday, April 10, 2020 at 11:59pm on Canvas

Designing the Experiment

Part 1 

You are required to design an experimental or quasi-experimental design that attempts to answer your approved research question. The assignment should be 3-4 pages. As you craft your essay, keep in mind what you learned in Modules 9A and 9B. Please note the due date for the assignment.

In your essay, you write – in detail – the step by step instructions for conducting the experiment. Anyone reading this essay should be able to conduct the experiment as you would conduct it (think replication). Imagine someone who is hired as a research assistant when your previous assistant abruptly quit after winning Powerball. You cannot get behind on research, so the new assistant needs to catch up immediately.

The details will include:

· The sample and sampling procedure (think about external validity)

· Identification of the independent and dependent variables

· A discussion of how you will measure those variables (pay attention to threats to construct validity)

· A discussion of the actual methodology (pay attention to demonstrating cause and to minimizing threats to internal validity).

If you are using a previously published measure of a concept, briefly describe it and cite it. You should take research ethics into account when describing your design. You should also consider the feasibility or practicality of your design. For example, you cannot change gun laws in a state or hire 50,000 extra police officers.

Part 2

Answer the following three questions:

1. Identify your design. Why did you choose the experimental or quasi-experimental design in question?

2. To what extent and in what way is internal validity a potential problem in your study. Go through each threat (selection effects only) to internal validity—if a given threat is not a concern in this study, briefly explain why; if the threat is unavoidable, explain why. You should also include a brief blurb about any other internal validity (or other validity) concerns.

3. How generalizable would you expect the study’s findings to be? To whom will it be generalizable? What could be done to increase generalizability?

I highly recommend that you use the study of the colors of shirts provided in Module 4 (the link is near the end of the Module and is titled, “Read for Practice: Influence of Red Jersey Color on Physical Parameters in Combat Sports”) as a guide for developing and writing your experimental methods proposal. If you want feedback on this prior to turning it in, you must have it to your lab instructor by April 3, 2020. After that, no feedback will be provided on drafts.

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