Exam 7: Group Experimental Designs

Which of the following is the threat to internal validity represented by changes that simply occur with the passage of time?

Match the key term to its description. -The Hawthorne effect

Match the key term to its description. -Randomization

Match the key term to its description. -One Group Pretest-Posttest Design

External validity deals with changes in the individual or group due to the experimental conditions.

Match the key term to its description. -Ex Post Facto Control Group

Match the key term to its description. -Control group

Outline the procedure for the Solomon Four Group design. What is the primary advantage using this design over other designs?

Non-equivalent control group designs designate experimental and comparison groups before the treatment occurs.

The threat to internal validity of selection bias is reduced by randomization.

Match the key term to its description. -True Experiment

Compensatory rivalry occurs when control group members are aware that they are being denied some advantage and so increases their efforts by way of compensation.

Match the key term to its description. -Pretest

Matching reduces the comparability of the experimental group and control group.

Selection bias is a threat to internal validity.

Match the key term to its description. -Non-Equivalent Control Group

The threat of testing as a source of internal validity in experiments occurs when there is:

A social worker writes a report in which he compares women who have come to him for depression and women in the general population. What problem has he not considered?

You want to conduct research that documents the effects of watching violent cartoons on violence during children's playtime. Set up the following types of experimental and quasi-experimental designs: pretest and posttest control group design, posttest only control group design, Solomon four group design nonequivalent group, and an ex-post facto control group design. Which design do you think would produce the most valid results? Defend your position.

An after school program at the local Boys and Girls Club wanted to see if the program improved behavior. A social worker administered a behavior assessment to the group in September. The children then attended the program during the school year. At the end of the school year, the behavior assessment was given again and they found that behavior scores improved. While the intervention may have been effective, the best other explanation may be: