FCS 681 Research MethodsAssignment #2Experimental, quasi-exper.docx

FCS 681 Research Methods
Assignment #2
Experimental, quasi-experimental, and ex post facto designs
1. A researcher wants to investigate whether college students’
knowledge of the negative consequences of the overuse of credit
will affect their attitudes about credit use. He plans to recruit
one family studies class of 30 students from a local college
campus (already enrolled in one class) and measure their
attitudes toward credit with an attitude scale. Then, on four
successive days, the researcher will teach them four lessons on
the consequences of the overuse of credit: wage garnishment,
repossession, foreclosure, and bankruptcy. On the fifth day, the
researcher will administer an alternate form of the credit
attitude scale (one intended to measure the same attitude). Then,
he will try to infer whether college students’ knowledge of the
negative consequences of the overuse of credit affects their
attitudes about credit use.
a.. What is the independent variable and what is the treatment
that the researcher will use to manipulate that variable?
The independent variable is the college student's knowledge of
the negative consequences of overusing credit.
The treatment is educating students on the negative
consequences of overusing credit including lessons on wage
garnishment, foreclosure, repossession and bankruptcy .
b. What is the dependent variable in this study?
The dependent variable is the change in the college students
attitudes towards overusing credit.
c. What type of research design is this researcher planning to
use? Diagram it.

The researcher may use pre-Experimental Design, One Group
Pretest Posttest study.
Measure Baseline Administer Program Measure
Outcome
O X O
d. State the most likely alternative hypothesis of this
researcher.
When college students increase their knowledge of the negative
consequences of the overuse of credit, their positive attitude
toward credit use will decrease.
e. What are the most important threats to the internal validity
of the study? (Give an example of each threat in the language of
the research problem.)
Selection- The effect may be due to nonequivalent subjects with
different education levels, ages, and experience with credit
history
Maturation: student’s attitude could change during the course
of the experiment due to emotional or intellectual development
between pre- and post test.
Mortality- Students could drop out between the pre- and post
test.
Instrumentation- the effect on attitude may be due to the
researcher using a different form of the credit attitude scale.
History- The students’ attitude on credit use changed as a
result of an outside event such as seminar or personal
experiences with creditors.
f. What two threats to internal validity are involved in this
researcher’s plan to use an alternate form of the credit attitude
scale? What is the trade-off?
Instrumentation threat is involved in this research, as the

scale. This means the effect on students’ attitude about credit
use may be due to the researcher using a different form of the
credit attitude scale. When the research uses different form of
credit attitude scale, he or she would like to avoid testing
threat, which can occur when the researcher uses the same form
of scale in pre and posttest. If the research uses the same form
of scale throughout the study, the testing threat may cause the
student to be primed or be aware during the pre-test. As a
result, the students’ performance in posttest might be due to the
pre-test (methodological independent variable) instead of the
treatment itself.
Trade- off: It is impossible for both instrumentation and testing
threat exist in the same study. If the researcher wants to use the
same credit attitude scale in pre-posttest to avoid
instrumentation threat, then testing threat might occur in his or
her study. In contrast, if the researcher wants to use different
form of credit attitude scale in pre-posttest to avoid testing
threat, then instrumentation threat might occur in his or her
study.
g. Briefly describe the analysis this researcher would use to
answer his research question (i.e., what would he compare to
what?)
The researcher would compare the results from pre and post
tests. Any difference, such as increase or decrease from posttest
to pretest is possibly related to the treatment which is
represented by X.
Suppose that instead of the design described, the researcher
randomly assigned each of the 30 students to two groups.
Suppose he did everything the same as before, except a teacher
took one group of students on a field trip each of the four
“treatment” days during their family studies class to a local
historical site.

h. What type of research design is he now using? Diagram it.
Experimental Pretest-posttest control group design
experimental.
R O X O
R O O
i. Does this design now have a classic “placebo” control group?
Yes. The control group is the group who was measure their
attitudes toward credit with attitude scale before and after the
event of field trip, but they were not brought to the field trip for
“treatment”.
j. Compare and contrast these two research designs’ internal and
external validity.
Threats to internal validity in these two designs include
selection bias. It is possible that the groups are not formed
equivalently . It could be possible that subjects in one have a
characteristic that would affect the dependent variable. One of
the threats to external validity would be pre-test treatment
interaction. The subjects’ reactions to the treatment might be
affected by their exposure to a pretest gaging their attitude
toward credit. Furthermore, the experimental pretest-posttest
control group design is better control of the threats to internal
validity.
1st Research
Pre-experimental
2nd research
Experimental Pretest-posttest control group design
Selection threat
√
√
Maturation threat

√
Instrumentation threat
√
√
History threat
√
Testing threat
Mortality threat
√
√
The threat from methodological independent variable ( pre-test)
→ on to the post test results
√
√
Ambiguity about causal direction
√
(It is because we do not know the posttest results are due to the
treatment or other internal/ external threats)
Interaction of selection-treatment
√
√
Interaction of setting-treatment
√
√
Interaction of history-treatment
2. A research team wants to study the effect of handbag
advertising on women’s choice of handbags. They are concerned

about the potential effects of the women having any clue before
the ads are shown about the content of the study (particularly
the treatment). They randomly assign 100 women (19-22 years
old) to four groups. They ask two groups of women to choose a
handbag from a group of four handbags before the treatment.
Two other groups will not be asked initially about their handbag
choices. Of the first two groups, one group will be shown a
television program containing 40-second handbag ads on one of
the handbags and the other group will be shown the program
without ads. Of the last two groups, one group will see the
program with the ads and the other group without the ads. Then,
each woman will be asked to choose a handbag from a set of
four possible handbags (including the one in the ads). Then, the
researchers will try to infer whether women shown the handbag
advertisements choose different handbags from the women not
shown the ads (i.e., whether advertising affects women’s choice
of handbags).
a. What is the substantive independent variable in this study?
The advertisement of the handbags
b. What additional (methodological) independent variable is
planned?
The pretest- having women choose handbags before the
treatment.
c. What is the dependent variable in this study?
The women’s choice of handbag
(which means how women react to advertising and whether or
not it has an an effect on their choice of handbags)
d. What research design is this research team planning?
Diagram it.
Solomon Four Group Design
R O X O
R O O

R X O
R O
e. What are the threats to internal validity of this research
design?
History - The women might choose a certain handbag due to a
particular well-known fashion show instead of 40-seconds
handbag ads.
Selection : The effect might be different due to the difference in
the income levels of the women. Some might prefer more
expensive brands than others based upon their income level.
Maturation: The women might choose a particular bag due to
their maturation and growth. Some women might read different
fashion magazines, watching different fashion shows, or
discussing with their friends regarding fashion throughout their
lifetime. All of these factors (intellectual/ emotional) might
contribute to the women choose a particular bag, and this is not
due to the 40-seconds handbag ads.
Testing: The women are asked to do the same task in pre-
posttest, which is asking the women to choose a handbag from a
set of four possible handbags. s. The women’s choice of
handbag in posttest might be due to the pretest instead of the
40-seconds handbag ad
f. What is the third (methodological) null hypothesis in this
study?
There is no effect of interaction between giving women a
pretest (choosing handbags), when it comes to the choice they
make in handbags during the posttest.
g. (extra credit) Briefly explain how this team would analyze
their data to answer their research question and deal with their
methodological concern, including the two different
possibilities that could occur in the test of the third null
hypothesis.

Group1 O X O
Group2 O O
Group3 X O
Group4 O
In order to observe the effect from pretest, the team should
compare the posttest results from group 3 and 4 to the posttests
result in group 1 and 2. Therefore, the researcher would know
whether the posttest result is due to the effect from pretest.
In order to observe the interaction effect, the researcher has to
compare the posttest results in group 1 and 2, group 2 and 3,
group 3 and 4, etc.
two professors to help him in his research. One professor of
family and consumer sciences is planning a unit of four lessons
of credit, such as wage garnishment, repossession, foreclosure,
and bankruptcy. The other professor in social studies is teaching
a unit about Australia. Each professor’ class has 30 students. At
the beginning of the study, the researcher will measure each
student’s attitudes toward credit with an attitude scale. Then,
each professor will teach her lessons. After that, the researcher
will administer an alternate form of the credit attitude scale to
each student. Then, he will try to infer whether college
students’ knowledge of the negative consequences of the
overuse of credit affects their attitudes toward credit use.
a. What type of research design is this researcher planning to
use? Diagram it.
Quasi-experimental design-non-equivalent control group
design.
O x O
-------------------

O O
b. What do you believe is the one most important threat to the
internal validity of this study? (Use the specific languages of
the problem.)
Instrumentation - because different forms of credit attitude
scale were used between pretest and posttest
Selection: Students come from different majors and educational
background. Students from FCS might already have some
knowledge related to credit use. In contrast, students from
social studies might not have prior or limited exposure to the
subject matter related to credit use. In this study there is no
random assignment of the experimental groups. Selection bias is
a threat which may create the formation of non-equivalent
groups.
c. What could this researcher do to address this threat?
To address selection threat, the researchers should take students
either from FCS or social sciences so the educational
background will be similar.
1) Preliminary matching
2) Assign a subgroup of subjects randomly to groups
3) Analysis of covariance
To address instrumentation threat, the researcher should use the
same form of credit attitude scale in pre-posttest.
d. Compare and contrast this design to a previous research
design (question #1: h). Which do you believe is the better
research design? Why?
The research design in question 1:h, pretest- posttest control
group design is a better research design since it includes
random assignment of participants. If random assignment is not
used there may be unobserved factors causing the differences
between two groups, not the treatment. If the subjects are
assigned randomly then the only difference between the groups,

on average, is whether they receive the treatment.
1st Research - Experimental Pretest-posttest control group
design experimental.
2nd research- Quasi Experimental, nonequivalent control group.
Selection threat
✓
✓
Maturation threat
✓
✓
✓
History threat
✓
Testing threat
Mortality threat
✓
✓
The threat from methodological independent variable ( pre-test)
→ on to the post test results
✓
✓
✓
✓
Interaction of setting - treatment
✓
✓

Interaction of history - treatment
will affect their attitudes about credit use. The researcher will
select a random sample of 100 college students from a list of all
college students at CSUN. He will measure each student’s
knowledge of the negative consequences (delinquency, wage
garnishment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, etc) of the overuse of
credit with a 20-item self-report objective test. At the same
time, he will measure each student’s attitudes toward credit
with an attitude scale. Then, he will try to infer whether college
overuse of credit affects their attitudes toward credit use. (He
wants to infer cause-and-effect relationship.)
use (be precise)? Diagram it.
Ex post facto, Cross sectional design.
X O
Y
· Population of CSUN students
· Subgroup:100 that are randomly selected to represent
· Two tests given at the same time
· 1) 20-Item Self-Report Objective Test (X)
· 2) Attitude Scale (Y)
· Outcomes (O) of the students’ knowledge regarding the
negative consequences of credit overuse and its effect on their
attitudes toward credit use.

b. Describe its advantage over other ex post facto designs.
The advantage that this ex post facto, cross sectional design has
over other ex post facto designs is that there are no problem
with changes in conditions, data is much easier to obtain, and it
can be used even when the subject matter can be observed only
once. Also, because this study does not monitor changes in its
participants over a period of time, the cross sectional design is
the most appropriate design. Meanwhile, other ex post facto
designs, such as trend studies, view the changes within a
general population over time. Cohort studies will look at more
specific sub-populations as they change over time, and panel
studies will look at the same set of people each time. Time
series will look at the long view of a study, which would be the
exact opposite of a cross sectional, since cross sectional
chooses one period of time.
c. Is history a threat to the internal validity of this design? Why
or why not?
No, history is not a threat to the internal validity of this design.
This study design does not involve pre and posttest. The
researcher only measure once on the student’s attitude toward
credit use with an attitude scale.
d. Is maturation a threat to the internal validity of this design?
Why or why not?
No, maturation is not a threat to the internal validity of this
design. This study design does not involve pre and posttest. The
researcher only measures once on the student’s attitude toward
credit use with an attitude scale.
e. It testing a threat to the internal validity of this design? Why
or why not?
No, testing is not a threat to the internal validity of this design.
Testing threat only occur in pre-post design studies. The
researcher measures each student’s knowledge of the negative
consequences of the overuse of credit, and he will measure each

student’s attitudes toward credit with an attitude scale at the
same time. There are no pre-post design involved in this study.
f. Is instrumentation a threat to the internal validity of this
design? Why or why not?
No, instrumentation is not a threat to the internal validity of this
design. Similar to testing threat, instrumentation only occur in
pre-post design studies or between two measurement period. It
is related to any pre-post gain that is attributable to the change
of instrument, which is the human observer. For example, the
observer might getting better in measuring the variables in post
test than in the pre test. However, in this case, the observer
measures each student’s knowledge of the negative
consequences of the overuse of credit at the same time with the
measurement of each student’s attitudes toward credit.
g. Is mortality a threat to the internal validity of this design?
Why or why not?
No, mortality is not a threat to the internal validity of this
design. Mortality threat only occurs when there are dropouts of
samples in between two measurement points in a study, which
are pre and posttest. This study design does not involve pre and
posttest. The researcher only measure once on the student’s
attitude toward credit use with an attitude scale.
h. What is the most important threat to the internal validity of
this study? What could this researcher do to address this threat?
What could this researcher do to address this threat? Be specific
in discussing this in relation to THIS particular study.
The most important threat to the internal validity of this study
is ambiguity of cause and effect relationship, since there is no
causal relationship that can be identified. A researcher could
create a longer time-frame, so that it would be easier to
determine whether the outcome resulted from the exposure in
time.

i. Describe another important threat to the internal validity of
this design that is NOT a threat to any previous design we have
considered.
The type of people selected cannot be generalized for the entire
population
The ex post facto design is only measured once. There is no way
to know whether or not there is a difference of performance
after the treatment because there is no pretest. There is also no
random sampling and no statistical control because it is only
measured a single time.
j. Compare and contrast this research design to the research
designs in question #1 (note: there are two designs in question
#1: c & h) and question #3 in terms of both internal and external
validity. Please be organized in this answer.
The ex post facto design can be used to to establish cause and
effect when experimental design is not possible. lt is less
expensive and time consuming than experimental research.
The limitation of post facto design are that the researcher is
unable to manipulate the independent variable purposively, and
data may be unreliable due to the fact that subjects are not
assigned randomly. The major threat to internal validity of ex
post facto design is ambiguity about causal direction, the
inability to be sure whether A causes B or B causes A.
1st Research Ex post facto design (cross sectional design)
2nd research Pre-experimental design
3rd Research
Experimental design
Selection threat
✓
✓
Maturation threat

✓
✓
✓
✓
History threat
✓
✓
Testing threat
Mortality threat
✓
✓
The threat from methodological independent variable ---> on to
post test results
✓
✓
✓
✓
Interaction of setting treatment
✓
✓
Interaction of history treatment

k. Which of these four designs do you believe is the best
Although there is no perfect design, Solomon four-group design
might be the best research design. It is appropriate for research
that contains large sample group. It can eliminate almost all
both internal and external threats for large sample population.
However, it might be hard to perform solomon four-group
design if the research contains small sample population.
http://franchiselawyer.com/overview-of-franchising
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/franchise
Read assigned materials above and respond to the questions
below.
1. What are 2 primary advantages of a franchise and why?
2. What are 2 primary disadvantages of a franchise and why?
6
Name:NoufAlkharashi
FCS 681 Research Methods
Assignment #2
Experimental, quasi-experimental, and ex post facto designs

one family studies class of 30 students from a local college
campus (already enrolled in one class) and measure their
attitudes toward credit with an attitude scale. Then, on four
successive days, the researcher will teach them four lessons on
the consequences of the overuse of credit: wage garnishment,
repossession, foreclosure, and bankruptcy. On the fifth day, the
attitude scale (one intended to measure the same attitude). Then,
he will try to infer whether college students’ knowledge of the
negative consequences of the overuse of credit affects their
attitudes about credit use.
a. What is the independent variable and what is the treatment
that the researcher will use to manipulate that variable?
· The credit usage is an independent variable. The researcher
aims at teaching the students to realize the consequences
ventured into due to overuse of credit. Therefore, through
imparting knowledge and measuring their attitude will tend to
manipulate on the credit usage but credit as an independent
variable remains to be credit. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
b. What is the dependent variable in this study?
· Students’ attitude is a dependent variable. The researcher uses
the credit attitude measurement scale to find changes impacted
to students by overuse of the credit. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
·
c. What type of research design is this researcher planning to
use? Diagram it.
· The researcher plans to use Experimental research design as it
uses both the independent and dependent variables. The
variablesbecome the inputs and the outputs of the research study
in the college.

Independent Condition A influences Dependent
Variable Condition B Variable
d. State the most likely alternative hypothesis of this researcher.
· The alternative hypothesis of the researcher was to prove that
students’ knowledge of the adverse consequences of the overuse
of credit will affect their attitudes about credit use. Comment by
Yali Yang: +3
e. What are the most important threats to the internal validity of
the study? (Give an example of each threat in the language of
the research problem.)
· Theprobeof an instrument used to whether measures accurately
or not. For example, the credit attitudes scale.
· The use of single sampling method in a college to do the
research. For example, the researcher uses a family of 30
students enrolled in the same class in a large population.
f. What two threats to internal validity are involved in this
scale? What is the trade-off?
· Poor and inaccurate results might be measured thus a threat to
the validity of the study.
· Time taken might vary once an alternate form to administer is
used and thus cause a threat to the study results in the
measurement process.
The trade off in the research study is the usage of the actual
credit scale in comparison to the alternate form of measurement
as it provides quality feedback and on time results analysis.
g. Briefly describe the analysis this researcher would use to
answer his research question (i.e., what would he compare to
what?)
· The researcher will examine the student’s knowledge of the
consequences of the standard usage of credit with that of
overuse before their attitude is affected. In regards to the
teaching lessons the researcher would offer to the students

aiming at validating the research question. Also, the use of
credit attitude scales in comparison with the alternate form of
attitude scale measurement to verify his problem in research.
Suppose that instead of the design described, the researcher
randomly assigned each of the 30 students to two groups.
Suppose he did everything the same as before, except a teacher
took one group of students on a field trip each of the four
“treatment” days during their family studies class to a local
historical site.
h. What type of research design is he now using? Diagram it.
· He is using Randomized Blocked Design i.eStratified random
sampling research designthat assigns a given sample into two
groups thus research study will be conducted to reduce variance
in the data or noise.
· Its diagram is seen to have relative homogenous subgroups
then implementation of experimental design study. Therefore,
the randomized block design will be more efficient in estimates
across the entire sample.
i. Does this design now have a classic “placebo” control group?
· Yes, it has a classic placebo since there won’t be a change of
behavior in the two different groups randomly assigned in the
research study. The researcher will be able to get precise results
in the two groups. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
j. Compare and contrast these two research designs’ internal and
external validity.
· In Experimental research design, there is a total lack of
control as compared to the Stratified research design that has
subgroup and controlled, hence can secure valid evidence and
data required in their treatment as they interact.
· The tendency of having errors of misplaced precision on
Experimental research due to a tedious collection of data in the
sample as compared to the stratified research that has exact

subgroup to test.
· Both research design needs an instrument that are internally
used to verify the results when analyzing and answering the
question in a research study.
· Both have to use time as a factor in the research study when
answering the question at hand.
2. A research team wants to study the effect of handbag
advertising on women’s choice of handbags. They are concerned
about the potential effects of the women having any clue before
the ads are shown about the content of the study (particularly
the treatment). They randomly assign 100 women (19-22 years
old) to four groups. They ask two groups of women to choose a
handbag from a group of four handbags before the treatment.
Two other groups will not be asked initially about their handbag
choices. Of the first two groups, one group will be shown a
television program containing 40-second handbag ads on one of
the handbags and the other group will be shown the program
without ads. Of the last two groups, one group will see the
program with the ads and the other group without the ads. Then,
each woman will be asked to choose a handbag from a set of
four possible handbags (including the one in the ads). Then, the
researchers will try to infer whether women shown the handbag
advertisements choose different handbags from the women not
shown the ads (i.e., whether advertising affects women’s choice
of handbags).
a. What is the substantive independent variable in this study?
· Handbag ads and the program are the functional Independent
variable. It is because they can affect a woman’s choice once
put in place among the groups. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
b. What additional (methodological) independent variable is
planned?
· Another independent variable that is proposed by the research
team is women’s clue about the content of thestudy. It can

affect the behavior of the women in a way suggesting to modify
the actual concentration on what to dwell on so that she can
make a choice on the handbag she needs. Comment by Yali
Yang: +3
c. What is the dependent variable in this study?
· Choice of handbag is a dependent variable. Because a woman
a group can only rely on the program and the ads so as to do the
selection of thebag she needs. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
d. What research design is this research team planning?
Diagram it.
· They are planning to use Randomized Experiment research
design. It is through the groups that they intend to have their
question in a research study. The women cluster in a given age
bracket within the four groups so as to provide precise feedback
in results intended.
e. What are the threats to internal validity of this research
design?
· They include; Events that occurs between the first and second
measurement in women’s selection choices can lead to a change
of the results of the research of the study. Secondly, the effects
of recording the women’s first choice with taking second results
of their choosing. It can lead to a lack of precision in the
variance of the data.
f. What is the third (methodological) null hypothesis in this
study? Comment by Yali Yang: +3
· The third null hypothesis is whether the women having a clue
about the content of research study will affect the choice of the
handbags selected by the women. Therefore, the research study
tries to prove that having a clue will eventually change their
research study in question, and that is the reason they intend to
make them clueless.

g. (extra credit) Briefly explain how this team would analyze
their data to answer their research question and deal with their
methodological concern, including the two different
possibilities that could occur in the test of the third null
hypothesis.
· The team will analyze the data in a uniform way as follows:
The groups having watched ads put in one category and the
group that did not watch placed in the second group.
To analyze group shown a program and group not shown the
program to put on their own.
Finally, Analyze the group shown both the program and ads on
their choice of their selection to be analyzed.
· In regards to the null hypothesis, the team should try by
giving a clue to one group that had not been in the research
before and analyzed their data after their research. Therefore,
results will be precise and valid avoiding errors to a high
degree.
two professors to help him in his research. One professor of
family and consumer sciences is planning a unit of four lessons
of credit, such as wage garnishment, repossession, foreclosure,
and bankruptcy. The other professor in social studies is teaching
a unit about Australia. Each professor’ class has 30 students. At
the commencement of the research, the researcher will measure
each student’s attitudes toward credit with an attitude scale.
Then, each professor will teach her lessons. After that, the
attitude scale to each student. Then, he will try to infer whether
college students’ knowledge of the negative consequences of the
overuse of credit affects their attitudes toward credit use.

use? Diagram it.
· The researcher is planning to use Quasi-Experimental Design.
The research design does not involve random assignment and
thus involve selecting groups upon testing the variable at hand.
b. What do you believe is the one most important threat to the
internal validity of this study? (Use the specific languages of
the problem.)
· The most significant threat to the internal validity is the
selection of the subject. Both professorswere ought to prepare
on the same theme of the research study. They both had to
prepare for the four lessons on the credit so that the validity of
the variable tested to correspond to the question in aresearch
study. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
c. What could this researcher do to address this threat?
· The researcher was to provide them with guidelines on the
same selection usage of the four-lesson plan. It was to enable
the professor with their groups have common tested variable as
they dwelt on the same question in the research study but at
different locations.
d. Compare and contrast this design to a previous research
design (question #1: h). Which do you believe is the better
· Randomized Blocked design uses random assigning of groups
while Quasi-Experiment does not use any randomized pre-
selection process. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
· Both research designs use same instrumentation for measuring
the attitude of students in their usage of credit. Thus, having a
standard technique in testing and analyzing when answering the
question in the research study.
· I think Randomized Blocked design is the better research as
compared to the Quasi-Experiment. Because Randomized study
performs a random assigning of the group and once selected,

they are analyzed on the same subject selection. There is no
‘favoritism; on which group to be taught some lessons and
others to be left out in the essence of theresearch study.
will affect their attitudes about credit use. The researcher will
select a random sample of 100 college students from a list of all
college students at CSUN. He will measure each student’s
knowledge of the negative consequences (delinquency, wage
garnishment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, etc) of the overuse of
credit with a 20-item self-report objective test. At the same
time, he will measure each student’s attitudes toward credit
with an attitude scale. Then, he will try to infer whether college
overuse of credit affects their attitudes toward credit use. (He
wants to infercause-and-effect relationship.)
use (be precise)? Diagram it.
· The researcher plans on using Simple Random research design.
· It is the most straightforward design research whereby the
method obtains a sample from a population in which every
member of the population has an equal chance of selection.
Therefore, no grouping is done and no choice of students in
CSUN using any given criteria but onlyselecting.
b. Describe its advantage over other ex post facto designs.
· It is easy to find the difference in the results intended since
there is measurement before and after the research study. Also,
using the research design can make the researcher have
precision results in inferring the cause and effect relationship.
c. Is history a threat to the internal validity of this design? Why

or why not?
· History is not a threat to the internal validity. It is because the
selected sample experienced the same current event in the
design research study. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
d. Is maturation a threat to the internal validity of this design?
Why or why not?
· Maturation is not a threat to internal validity. Because the
sample group experienced the same developmental processes
while performing the research study. Comment by Yali
Yang: +3
e. Is testing a threat to the internal validity of this design? Why
or why not?
· Yes, testing is a threat. Because once theresearcher records’
the testingat first, itmanipulate the behavior of the students and
could alter to newer record in the post-test.
f. Is instrumentation a threat to the internal validity of this
design? Why or why not?
· Instrumentation is not a threat to the research study. It is
because same measurement method used did not alter the
variables tested thus precision in thesupply of records under
question in aresearch study. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
g. Is mortality a threat to the internal validity of this design?
Why or why not?
· Mortality is not a threat to the internal validity of the research
study. It is because no drop out of an individual from the
sample selected took place thus research study
conductedsuccessfully. Comment by Yali Yang: +3
h. What is the most important threat to the internal validity of
this study? What could this researcher do to address this threat?
Be specific in discussing this in relation to THIS particular
study.

· Testing is the most significant threat.
· The researcher could have tested after performing the research
and analysis so as to come up with the exact results on inferring
the cause and effect of overuse of the credit. Once the
researcher presents pre-testing, the behavior of the students will
change and thus post testing results can be affected.
i. Describe another important threat to the internal validity of
this design that is NOT a threat to any previous design we have
considered.
· Design Contamination is a threat to the internal validity of the
research.
· It is because the group was now aware of the research study
conducted and they are vulnerable to exposure. Thus, wanted it
to fail.
j. Compare and contrast this research design to the research
designs in question #1 (note: there are two designs in question
#1: c & h) and question #3 in terms of both internal and external
validity. Please be organized in this answer.
1. Comparison and Contrast in Simple random versus
Experimental research design in regards to internal and external
validity.
· Both research designs improve the external validity such as
the generalization of the research design.
· The experimental research design is more prone to threats in
regards to internal validity as compared to the Simple random
research design that has variable internal threats.
2. Comparison and Contrast in Simple random versus
Randomized Blocked research design in regards to internal and
external validity.
· They both have similarity in grouping samples thus threat in
regards to internal and external corresponds averagely the same.

· Randomized Blocked research design is prone precision and
fewerrisks in regards to internal and external validity while
simple random research might select asimilar sample of
thegroup having similar features thus lowering accuracy of the
results.
3. Comparison and Contrast in Simple random versus Quasi-
Experimental research design in regards to internal and external
validity.
· Thy both have similar technique in addressing the threat of
internal and external validity.
· Quasi-Experiment research design is more prone to selection
risk in the internal validity while Simple Random research
design is more prone to testing threat in regards to internal
validity.
k. Which of these four designs do you believe is the best
· I believe Randomized Block design is the best research design
among the four.
· Because of the precision of results it provides and it does not
allow more threats to internal validity. Also, allows a researcher
to specialize and utilize time on one subgroup for a given a
research study.

FCS 681 Research MethodsAssignment #2Experimental, quasi-exper.docx

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