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A researcher wants to design an empirical study with high internal validity to test if a new tutoring program causes an increase in students' test scores. Based on the features of experimental research described in the text, how should the researcher structure their study's design to justify this causal conclusion?
Question: A researcher wants to design an empirical study with high internal validity to test if a new tutoring program causes an increase in students' test scores. Based on the features of experimental research described in the text, how should the researcher structure their study's design to justify this causal conclusion?
Sample answer: The researcher should design an experimental study where they deliberately manipulate the tutoring program (the independent variable) while rigorously controlling for extraneous variables (such as prior knowledge or study time). This control eliminates alternative causal explanations and isolates the tutoring program as the direct cause of any differences in test scores (the dependent variable).
Key points:
- Use an experimental research design rather than a non-experimental correlational design.
- Deliberately manipulate the independent variable (the tutoring program).
- Rigorously control for extraneous variables to isolate the independent variable as the direct cause of changes in the dependent variable (test scores).
Rubric: To receive full credit, the answer must state that the researcher needs to use an experimental design. It must specify that they must deliberately manipulate the independent variable (the tutoring program) and rigorously control for extraneous variables. It must explain that this setup isolates the independent variable as the cause of differences in the dependent variable (test scores) and eliminates alternative explanations.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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A researcher wants to design an empirical study with high internal validity to test if a new tutoring program causes an increase in students' test scores. Based on the features of experimental research described in the text, how should the researcher structure their study's design to justify this causal conclusion?