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Explain how the researcher has structurally modified the independent variables compared to the original study by Schnall and colleagues. Based on this structural change, explain the difference in the researcher's ability to draw causal conclusions regarding both independent variables.
Case context: A researcher replicates the conceptual structure of the experiment by Schnall and colleagues on disgust and moral judgments. However, instead of measuring participants' pre-existing private body consciousness, the researcher decides to manipulate both independent variables. The researcher randomly assigns participants to complete the study either in a clean room or a messy room (Variable 1). Additionally, the researcher randomly assigns participants to either a 'bodily focus' condition, where they are instructed to focus intently on their physical sensations, or a 'distraction' condition, where they focus on external sights (Variable 2). All participants then rate the moral acceptability of various transgressions on a scale of 1 to 7.
Question: Explain how the researcher has structurally modified the independent variables compared to the original study by Schnall and colleagues. Based on this structural change, explain the difference in the researcher's ability to draw causal conclusions regarding both independent variables.
Sample answer: In this modified study, both independent variables (room cleanliness and bodily focus) are manipulated through random assignment, whereas the original study by Schnall and colleagues manipulated only one variable (room cleanliness) and measured the other (private body consciousness) as a pre-existing participant variable. Because both variables are now manipulated, the researcher can establish causal relationships for both variables on moral judgments (assuming proper control of confounding variables). In the original design, a causal claim could only be made for the manipulated room cleanliness, not for the measured participant variable of private body consciousness.
Key points:
- Explains that the modified design manipulates both independent variables rather than measuring one.
- Explains that random assignment/manipulation is required to make causal claims about an independent variable.
- Contrasts the causal limitations of the original measured participant variable with the causal capabilities of the new manipulated variable.
Rubric: The response must explain that the modification turns a measured participant variable into a manipulated independent variable through random assignment. It must clarify that manipulating both variables allows the researcher to draw causal conclusions for both factors, whereas the original design only allowed causal conclusions for the manipulated variable (room cleanliness) and not the measured participant variable (private body consciousness).
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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