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Complex Experimental Designs

A research study design is typically a detailed outline of how a study will take place. It will describe, in detail, how data is collected, what instruments will be used, how they will be used, and the means or analyzing the data (What comes after those ellipses?). In a research design, an independent variable is known as a factor (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). Every factor must be accounted for in a research design in order to report accurate results.

When studying the effects of compensation on response rates of interview subjects, the interview subject of the study becomes the variable or factor. The compensation piece is the responsibility of the researcher and is therefore known as the active factor (Cooper & Schindler, 2014). Active factors are all factors that the researcher is in control of. Blocking factors are known as independent variables that are outside of the control of the researcher such as, race, gender, age.

When analyzing the cause and effect of active factors, each effect must be tracked. When measuring the effects of compensation on response rates, the active factor, which is the compensation, can be arranged at three different levels. For example, no compensation, one dollar compensation, and three dollar compensation. It should be arranged in a way to include three hundred subjects equally divided into three categories with each category having its own dedicated active factor.

Category A Answers 1 Compensation 1

Category B Answers 2 Compensation 2

Category C Answers 3 Compensation 3

The independent variable is the active factor while Answers 1, 2, and 3 represent the answers to the social piece and Compensation 1, 2, and 3 represent the amount of compensation. The answers achieved would be linked to the response rates and could be compared to one another.

Another important issue worth mentioning is the importance of sample size. “The sample size selected, regardless of the research question being asked or statistical approach being used, necessarily impacts the precision of the parameter estimates” (Dochtermann & Jenkins, 2011). Small sample sizes occur often in behavioral research and can be very constraining on the data (Dochtermann & Jenkins, 2011). With only each category having 100 participants, results may vary based on the class level of each participant and the questions asked about compensation.

The aim of research is to develop an understanding. I am reminded of the book of Proverbs. In the scripture, godly people are told to find an understanding for something like they would gold, silver and treasure (Proverbs 2:2-5, New American Standard Bible).

References

Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods (12th ed.). New York, NY:

McGraw-Hill Irvin Publishing

Dochtermann, N. A. and Jenkins, S. H. (2011), Multivariate Methods and Small Sample Sizes. Ethology, 117: 95–101. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01846.x