Case Study

Explain what it means for this study to test 'all combinations' of the factors. Describe how the conditions are formed and describe one specific experimental condition that a participant could be assigned to in this study.

Case context: A clinical psychology researcher wants to study the effects of treatment factors on patient recovery. Inspired by the book's example, they set up a 2×2×22 \times 2 \times 2 factorial design using three independent variables: psychotherapy type (cognitive vs. behavioral), psychotherapy length (2 weeks vs. 2 months), and therapist sex (female vs. male).

Question: Explain what it means for this study to test 'all combinations' of the factors. Describe how the conditions are formed and describe one specific experimental condition that a participant could be assigned to in this study.

Sample answer: Testing all combinations means that every level of each independent variable is paired with every level of the other independent variables. In this study, the conditions are formed by combining all levels (2×2×2=82 \times 2 \times 2 = 8), resulting in eight distinct groups. A participant in one specific condition might, for example, receive cognitive psychotherapy (from the psychotherapy type variable) for a length of 2 weeks (from the psychotherapy length variable) conducted by a female therapist (from the therapist sex variable).

Key points:

  • All combinations means pairing every level of each independent variable with every level of the others.
  • Conditions are formed by combining the levels of all three independent variables.
  • There are eight distinct conditions in total.
  • An example condition combines one level of psychotherapy type, psychotherapy length, and therapist sex.

Rubric: Assess the response on: 1. Explaining that 'all combinations' means pairing every level of each IV with every level of the other IVs. 2. Explaining that combining the levels of the variables determines the conditions (8 total). 3. Providing a valid description of one specific condition combining one level from each of the three variables (e.g., cognitive, 2 weeks, female therapist).

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Updated 2026-05-26

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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