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Imagine you are running a single-subject study on a behavioral intervention and find that the participant's data is highly noisy, making visual inspection of the treatment effect difficult. What concrete step should you take first to resolve the noise, and what should you do if the treatment effect remains visually undetectable after that step?
Question: Imagine you are running a single-subject study on a behavioral intervention and find that the participant's data is highly noisy, making visual inspection of the treatment effect difficult. What concrete step should you take first to resolve the noise, and what should you do if the treatment effect remains visually undetectable after that step?
Sample answer: First, you should strictly control extraneous variables to reduce the noise in the data or enhance the strength of the treatment effect. If the treatment effect remains visually undetectable after controlling these variables, you should conclude that the effect is not sufficiently robust or consistent to warrant further interest, rather than using statistical methods to find a weak effect.
Key points:
- Strictly control extraneous variables to reduce noise or enhance effect strength.
- Conclude the effect is not sufficiently robust or consistent to warrant interest if visual ambiguity persists.
- Avoid using statistical methods to detect the weak effect.
Rubric: Grading Rubric: - 1 point for identifying that the first step is to control extraneous variables to reduce noise/increase effect strength. - 1 point for stating the conclusion that the effect is not robust or consistent enough to warrant interest if it remains visually undetectable. - 1 point for specifying that researchers should not turn to statistical methods to detect the weak effect.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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Imagine you are running a single-subject study on a behavioral intervention and find that the participant's data is highly noisy, making visual inspection of the treatment effect difficult. What concrete step should you take first to resolve the noise, and what should you do if the treatment effect remains visually undetectable after that step?