Diagnose the error in the researcher's proposal regarding their independent variables. Explain why their statement is incorrect and clarify what the actual independent variable and its corresponding conditions are in this design.
Case context: A researcher is designing an experiment to study the bystander effect. They plan to have participants discuss a topic in group sizes of either one other student, two other students, or five other students. In their research proposal, the researcher states: 'To test our hypothesis, we will manipulate three independent variables: the one-student discussion condition, the two-student discussion condition, and the five-student discussion condition.'
Question: Diagnose the error in the researcher's proposal regarding their independent variables. Explain why their statement is incorrect and clarify what the actual independent variable and its corresponding conditions are in this design.
Sample answer: The researcher's error is confusing the levels of manipulation with separate independent variables. Instead of three independent variables, there is only one independent variable: the number of discussion partners (or group size). The one-student, two-student, and five-student setups are not separate independent variables, but are rather the three conditions or levels of that single independent variable.
Key points:
- Identifies the error of confusing conditions/levels with separate independent variables.
- Identifies the actual single independent variable (number of discussion partners/witnesses/group size).
- Identifies the three conditions as levels/variations within that single independent variable.
Rubric:
- 2 points: Correctly diagnoses the error of confusing conditions/levels with separate independent variables. - 2 points: Identifies the single independent variable (number of discussion partners / group size). - 1 point: Identifies the three conditions (one, two, and five discussion partners) as levels of the single independent variable.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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