FRHD 3070 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Internal Validity, The Control Group, Dependent And Independent Variables

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Family Relations and Human Development
• Course: FRHD 3070
• Professor: Hendry

Document Summary

Experimental research uses more of a positivist technique than the other research techniques. Some questions are better suited to certain methodological techniques than others. Need to judge which technique best fits with a certain research question. Allows focus to be on causal relationships. Limited to research questions where a researcher is able to manipulate conditions. Best for issues that have a narrow scope or scale. A valid comparison means comparing things that are fundamentally alike. Random assignment facilitates comparison in experiments by creating similar groups. Method of assigning cases to groups for the purpose of making comparisons. Random describes a process where each case has a known chance of being selected. It is unbiased because a researcher"s desire to confirm a hypothesis does not impact the selection. Begin with a collection of cases and then divide it into 2 or more groups by random process. Match cases in groups on certain characteristics.