Between-group design experiment

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In the design of experiments, a between-group design is an experiment that has two or more groups of subjects each being tested by a different testing factor simultaneously. This design is usually used in place of, or in some cases in conjunction with, the within-subject design, which applies the same variations of conditions to each subject to observe the reactions. The simplest between-group design occurs with two groups; one is generally regarded as the treatment group, which receives the ‘special’ treatment (that is, it is treated with some variable), and the control group, which receives no variable treatment and is used as a reference (prove that any deviation in results from the treatment group is, indeed, a direct result of the variable). The between-group design is widely used in psychological, economic, and sociological experiments, as well as in several other fields in the natural or social sciences.

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Experimental blinds

In order to avoid experimental bias, experimental blinds are usually applied in between-group designs. The most commonly used type is the single blind, which keeps the subjects blind without identifying them as members of the treatment group or the control group. In a single-blind experiment, a placebo is usually offered to the control group members. Occasionally, the double blind, a more secure way to avoid bias from both the subjects and the testers, is implemented. In this case, both the subjects and the testers are unaware of which group subjects belong to. The double blind design can protect the experiment from the observer-expectancy effect.

Advantages

The utilization of the between-group experimental design has several advantages. First, multiple variables, or multiple levels of a variable, can be tested simultaneously, and with enough testing subjects, a large number can be tested. Thus, the inquiry is broadened and extended beyond the effect of one variable (as with within-subject design). Additionally, this design saves a great deal of time, which is ideal if the results aid in a time-sensitive issue, such as healthcare.

Disadvantages

The main disadvantage with between-group designs is that they can be complex and often require a large number of participants to generate any useful and reliable data. For example, researchers testing the effectiveness of a treatment for severe depression might need two groups of twenty patients for a control and a test group. If they wanted to add another treatment to the research, they would need another group of twenty patients. The potential scale of these experiments can make between-group designs impractical due to limited resources, subjects and space.

Another major concern for between-group designs is bias. Assignment bias, observer-expectancy and subject-expectancy biases are common causes for skewed data results in between-group experiments, which can lead to false conclusions being drawn. These problems can be prevented by implementing random assignment and creating double-blind experiments whereby both the subject and experimenter are kept blind about the hypothesized effects of the experiment.

Some other disadvantages for between-group designs are generalization, individual variability and environmental factors. Whilst it is easy to try to select subjects of the same age, gender and background, this may lead to generalization issues, as you cannot then extrapolate the results to include wider groups. At the same time, the lack of homogeneity within a group due to individual variability may also produce unreliable results and obscure genuine patterns and trends. Environmental variables can also influence results and usually arise from poor research design. [1] [2]

Practice effect

A practice effect is the outcome/performance change resulting from repeated testing. This is best described by the Power Law of Practice: If multiple levels or some other variable variation are tested repeatedly (which is the case in between-group experiments), the subjects within each sub-group become more familiarized with testing conditions, thus increasing responsiveness and performance.

Mixed factorial design

Some research has been done regarding whether it is possible to design an experiment that combines within-subject design and between-group design, or if they are distinct methods. A way to design psychological experiments using both designs exists and is sometimes known as "mixed factorial design". [3] In this design setup, there are multiple variables, some classified as within-subject variables, and some classified as between-group variables. [3]

One example study combined both variables. This enabled the experimenter to analyze reasons for depression among specific individuals through the within-subject variable, and also determine the effectiveness of the two treatment options through a comparison of the between-group variable:

So, for example, if we are interested in examining the effects of a new type of cognitive therapy on depression, we would give a depression pre-test to a group of persons diagnosed as clinically depressed and randomly assign them into two groups (traditional and cognitive therapy). After the patients were treated according to their assigned condition for some period of time, let’s say a month, they would be given a measure of depression again (post-test). This design would consist of one within-subject variable (test), with two levels (pre and post), and one between-subjects variable (therapy), with two levels (traditional and cognitive).

[3]

Another example tests 15 men and 15 women, and examines participants' tasting of ice cream flavors:

A group of scientists are researching to find out what flavor of ice cream people enjoy the most out of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip. Thirty participants were chosen to be in the experiment, half male and half female. Each participant tasted 2 spoonfuls of each flavor. They then listed the flavors in order from best tasting to least favorable. At the end of the experiment, the scientist analyzed the data both holistically and by gender. They found that vanilla was highest rated favorable among all the participants. Interestingly, they found that men prefer mint chocolate chip to plain chocolate whereas women prefer strawberry to mint chocolate chip.

The above example is between-group, as no participants can be part of both the male group and female group. It is also within-subjects, because each participant tasted all four flavors of ice cream provided.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Design of experiments</span> Design of tasks

The design of experiments, also known as experiment design or experimental design, is the design of any task that aims to describe and explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to reflect the variation. The term is generally associated with experiments in which the design introduces conditions that directly affect the variation, but may also refer to the design of quasi-experiments, in which natural conditions that influence the variation are selected for observation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Experiment</span> Scientific procedure performed to validate a hypothesis

An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Experiments vary greatly in goal and scale but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results. There also exist natural experimental studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randomized controlled trial</span> Form of scientific experiment

A randomized controlled trial is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical techniques, medical devices, diagnostic procedures or other medical treatments.

In a blind or blinded experiment, information which may influence the participants of the experiment is withheld until after the experiment is complete. Good blinding can reduce or eliminate experimental biases that arise from a participants' expectations, observer's effect on the participants, observer bias, confirmation bias, and other sources. A blind can be imposed on any participant of an experiment, including subjects, researchers, technicians, data analysts, and evaluators. In some cases, while blinding would be useful, it is impossible or unethical. For example, it is not possible to blind a patient to their treatment in a physical therapy intervention. A good clinical protocol ensures that blinding is as effective as possible within ethical and practical constraints.

Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, including sensation, perception, memory, cognition, learning, motivation, emotion; developmental processes, social psychology, and the neural substrates of all of these.

Selection bias is the bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups, or data for analysis in such a way that proper randomization is not achieved, thereby failing to ensure that the sample obtained is representative of the population intended to be analyzed. It is sometimes referred to as the selection effect. The phrase "selection bias" most often refers to the distortion of a statistical analysis, resulting from the method of collecting samples. If the selection bias is not taken into account, then some conclusions of the study may be false.

Observer bias is one of the types of detection bias and is defined as any kind of systematic divergence from accurate facts during observation and the recording of data and information in studies. The definition can be further expanded upon to include the systematic difference between what is observed due to variation in observers, and what the true value is.

The observer-expectancy effect is a form of reactivity in which a researcher's cognitive bias causes them to subconsciously influence the participants of an experiment. Confirmation bias can lead to the experimenter interpreting results incorrectly because of the tendency to look for information that conforms to their hypothesis, and overlook information that argues against it. It is a significant threat to a study's internal validity, and is therefore typically controlled using a double-blind experimental design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field experiment</span>

Field experiments are experiments carried out outside of laboratory settings.

Internal validity is the extent to which a piece of evidence supports a claim about cause and effect, within the context of a particular study. It is one of the most important properties of scientific studies and is an important concept in reasoning about evidence more generally. Internal validity is determined by how well a study can rule out alternative explanations for its findings. It contrasts with external validity, the extent to which results can justify conclusions about other contexts. Both internal and external validity can be described using qualitative or quantitative forms of causal notation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific control</span> Methods employed to reduce error in science tests

A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable. This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements. Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method.

Random assignment or random placement is an experimental technique for assigning human participants or animal subjects to different groups in an experiment using randomization, such as by a chance procedure or a random number generator. This ensures that each participant or subject has an equal chance of being placed in any group. Random assignment of participants helps to ensure that any differences between and within the groups are not systematic at the outset of the experiment. Thus, any differences between groups recorded at the end of the experiment can be more confidently attributed to the experimental procedures or treatment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confounding</span> Variable or factor in causal inference

In causal inference, a confounder is a variable that influences both the dependent variable and independent variable, causing a spurious association. Confounding is a causal concept, and as such, cannot be described in terms of correlations or associations. The existence of confounders is an important quantitative explanation why correlation does not imply causation. Some notations are explicitly designed to identify the existence, possible existence, or non-existence of confounders in causal relationships between elements of a system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Research design</span> Overall strategy utilized to carry out research

Research design refers to the overall strategy utilized to carry out research that defines a succinct and logical plan to tackle established research question(s) through the collection, interpretation, analysis, and discussion of data.

In social research, particularly in psychology, the term demand characteristic refers to an experimental artifact where participants form an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and subconsciously change their behavior to fit that interpretation. Typically, demand characteristics are considered an extraneous variable, exerting an effect on behavior other than that intended by the experimenter. Pioneering research was conducted on demand characteristics by Martin Orne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quasi-experiment</span> Empirical interventional study

A quasi-experiment is an empirical interventional study used to estimate the causal impact of an intervention on target population without random assignment. Quasi-experimental research shares similarities with the traditional experimental design or randomized controlled trial, but it specifically lacks the element of random assignment to treatment or control. Instead, quasi-experimental designs typically allow the researcher to control the assignment to the treatment condition, but using some criterion other than random assignment.

In design of experiments, single-subject curriculum or single-case research design is a research design most often used in applied fields of psychology, education, and human behaviour in which the subject serves as his/her own control, rather than using another individual/group. Researchers use single-subject design because these designs are sensitive to individual organism differences vs group designs which are sensitive to averages of groups. The logic behind single subject designs is 1) Prediction, 2) Verification, and 3) Replication. The baseline data predicts behaviour by affirming the consequent. Verification refers to demonstrating that the baseline responding would have continued had no intervention been implemented. Replication occurs when a previously observed behaviour changed is reproduced. There can be large numbers of subjects in a research study using single-subject design, however—because the subject serves as their own control, this is still a single-subject design. These designs are used primarily to evaluate the effect of a variety of interventions in applied research.

Repeated measures design is a research design that involves multiple measures of the same variable taken on the same or matched subjects either under different conditions or over two or more time periods. For instance, repeated measurements are collected in a longitudinal study in which change over time is assessed.

A glossary of terms used in experimental research.

References

  1. "Between Subjects Design - Independent Groups Design". Archived from the original on 2012-06-02. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  2. Gray, Peter (2011) [First published 1991]. Psychology (sixth ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN   978-1-4292-1947-1.[ page needed ]
  3. 1 2 3 Hall, Richard. "2x2 Mixed Factorial Design." Psychology World. 1998. Web. 13 Dec. 2010.

Further reading