Can someone do by 10:00pm tonight?

Week 2 discussion: Research Designs

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Apply the scientific method to the information included within the scenario and develop a null and a research hypothesis based on it.

Null hypothesis: Experimental intervention will not improve the motivation of the students when they are participating in discussions.

Research hypothesis: Experimental intervention will improve the motivation of the students when they are participating in discussions.

Using the hypotheses you have developed, compare the characteristics of the different experimental research designs discussed in the Skidmore (2008) article and choose the one that is most appropriate to adequately test your hypotheses

Skidmore discusses different characteristics of experimental research designs. The three designs identified are Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design, Posttest-Only Control Group Design and Solomon Four-Group Design (Skidmore, 2008). The first two research designs have characteristics such as random assignment, the intervention is implemented only in the experimental group and there is always a post-intervention measurement. The characteristics of Solomon Four-Group Design is that it corrects for possible confounding effects of a pretest and also compares the results to an experimental and control group (Skidmore, 2008). The second characteristic is that it has a sample size comprising of two control and experimental groups. The most appropriate design for testing my hypothesis is Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design because intervention is given to one group and some form of post-intervention is required.

Identify potential internal threats to validity and explain how you might mitigate these threats.

The internal threats and validity could come from the selection bias which shows that the sample was not selected in a random way (Henrich, Heine & Norenzayan, 2010). This can be mitigated by the use of proper research designs and random selection (Sharma, 2017). The second internal threat is history where because of the holiday; the students could be less motivated to participate in the experiment. Attrition is another threat because the participants are present at will and hence can back out when they want. The solution is ensuring the experiment is carried out in school days to improve participation.

Apply ethical principles to the proposed research and describe the implications of this type of research in terms of the population(s) and cultural consideration(s) represented in the sample(s) within the scenario.

The ethical issue involved in this case is that the incentive that was used looks like a form of bribery for participants to participate in the experiment. This can be a source of bias but it increases participation in the study (Sharma, 2017). However, most societies are against the use of incentives and this can undermine the willingness to take part in the study.

References

Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world?. Macmillan Publishers Limited, 466. 29.

Sharma, G. (2017). Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International Journal of Applied Research, 3(7), 749-752.

Skidmore, S. (2008). Experimental Design and Some Threats to Experimental Validity: A Primer. Online Submission.