Chapter 10

Experimental Designs

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 Causal research
• Research conducted to identify cause-and-
effect relationships among variables when
the research has already been narrowly
defined

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 Evidence for causality

• Covariation
– Evidence of the extent to which X and Y occur
together or vary together in the way predicted by
the hypothesis
• Time order of occurrence of variable
– Evidence that shows X occurs before Y
• Elimination of other possible causal factors
– Evidence that allows the elimination of factors
other than X as the cause of Y
• A logical explanation
– About why the independent variable affects the
dependent variable.
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 Experiment

• Data collection method in which one or more

IVs are manipulated in order to measure their
effect on a DV, while controlling for
exogenous variables in order to test a
hypothesis

• Cause and effect relationship is established by

– Manipulation of independent variable
– Controlling for exogenous factors
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 Manipulation of IV
• Manipulation
Creation of different levels of the IV to assess
the impact on the DV

• Treatment levels
The arbitrary or natural groups a researcher
makes within the IV

• Evidence for causality

– Covariation (difference between groups)
– Time order control
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 Exogenous variables
• Controlling for exogenous/confounding
variables
– Eliminating other possible causal factors
– Eliminating alternative explanations

• Experimental designs available

• Two types of exogenous variables

– Related to participants
– Related other, environmental factors
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 Related to participants
• Selection bias: improper assignment of participants to the
experimental groups
– Matched groups: Match the different groups as closely as
possible in terms of age, interest, expertise etc.
– Random assignment: Randomly assign members to different
treatment groups. The differences will be randomly
distributed. Systematic bias will reduce.
–Statistical control: Measuring the external variables and
adjusting for their effect through statistical methods

• Mortality:Loss of participants during the experiment

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 Related to other factors
• History effects: External events occurring at the same time that
may affect the DV
• Maturation effects: Changes in the participants as a passage of
time that may affect the DV
• Testing effects: The experiment itself affect the responses
– Main testing effect: prior responses affect later responses
– Interactive testing effect: prior responses affect perception of IV
• Instrumentation effects: Changes in measuring instrument

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 Experimental Design

Research Methods © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

Research Methods © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

Research Methods © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

Research Methods © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

Research Methods © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

Research Methods © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

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for Business www.wiley.com/college/sekaran
 Experimental Design

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 Exercise

An organization would like to introduce one of two types of

new manufacturing processes to increase the productivity of
workers. Both involve heavy investment in expensive
technology. The company wants to test the efficacy of each
process in one of its small plants.

Propose an experiment, using:

- Pretest posttest control group design
- Posttest control group design

And calculate for each design the specific effect of each new
process on the productivity.
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 Validity

• Internal validity
– Determination of whether the effect is actually caused by the
manipulation of treatments and not by other, exogenous variables

• External validity
– Determination of whether the cause-and-effect relationships
found in the experiment can be generalized

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 Compared to field experiments,
lab experiments have the following
• Advantages
– High degree of control
– High internal validity / replication
– Less costly and less expensive

• Disadvantages
– Artificiality => reactive error
– Demand artifacts
– Lower external validity
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