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Apply the principles of complete counterbalancing to this experiment. Identify all the unique sequence orders the researcher must construct, calculate the minimum number of sequences required, and describe how participants should be distributed across these sequences.
Case context: A cognitive psychologist is designing a within-subjects experiment to test how three different screen layouts (Layout A, Layout B, and Layout C) affect reading comprehension. To control for sequence as a confounding variable, the researcher decides to use a complete counterbalancing design.
Question: Apply the principles of complete counterbalancing to this experiment. Identify all the unique sequence orders the researcher must construct, calculate the minimum number of sequences required, and describe how participants should be distributed across these sequences.
Sample answer: For three experimental conditions (Layouts A, B, and C), the total number of unique sequences is calculated factorially as , which equals unique sequences. The six sequences are: 1) A-B-C, 2) A-C-B, 3) B-A-C, 4) B-C-A, 5) C-A-B, and 6) C-B-A. To implement complete counterbalancing, the researcher must randomly assign participants to these sequences in such a way that an equal number of participants are allocated to each of the six sequences.
Key points:
- Calculates the total number of unique sequences as .
- Lists all six permutations: ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, and CBA.
- Specifies that participants must be randomly assigned to the sequences.
- Emphasizes that an equal number of participants must complete each of the six sequence orders.
Rubric: The answer must correctly identify the total number of sequences as 6, list all six permutations of A, B, and C, and specify that participants must be randomly assigned to these sequences with an equal number of participants completing each sequence.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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