Using Campbell & Stanley’s (1963) description, what type of study are the researchers proposing?
It is apparent that different kinds of the study can be implemented since the experiments might need to involve various types of participants, fields of operation, study design, and expected outcomes. Firstly, the kind of the study has to be determined to understand the intention and the nature of the research. The quasi-experimental design occurs when there is no possibility to use a fully randomized sample, and it has an appearance of the field practice (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 322).
In the instance of the case study, this definition is applicable, as to groups of people are chosen as experimental and control groups. Moreover, the quasi-experiment takes place in the natural field (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 322). In this case, two groups of the first-year university students participate.
What possible threats to internal validly will be present in this study?
It is apparent that threats to internal validity take place in this instance, as the design has experimental nature. It is evident that various internal factors such as the attitudes of the participants might affect the results of both groups. One of the threats is the fact that it is hard to determine whether the groups are equivalent at the beginning of the experiment. This fact might affect the results dramatically.
Another threat is the fact that some of the participants might not show the enthusiasm for the participation and quit the field of the experiment since they were not self-selected, and the tasks were assigned to them. Lastly, the knowledge of the existence of experimental group by the control group might bias the results and affect the final scores. In this case, the researcher should minimize the following threats since they might dramatically influence the results and expected outcomes of the research.
What are your recommendations?
As for the recommendations, it is apparent that the researchers should avoid the effect of various variables on internal validity, as, otherwise, the data, which is acquired during the research study, appears to be irrelevant. In this instance, the researcher has to make sure that the participants of both groups do not know about each other’s existence, as, in this case, the control group might manipulate their actions intentionally.
Another point is to change the nature of the sample, as the participants might not want to participate the research and provide irrelevant answers to the questions due to their attitude. In this case, the self-selecting sample is the most suitable approach since it will contribute to the lack of bias and inability to affect the results of the other individuals, as they will participate voluntarily.
Discussion
One of the primary aspects, which is actively covered in research and statistics, is standard deviation, as it allows measuring the differences between the data values (“Statistics: Standard Deviation”). As for the quasi-experimental design, it is applicable when the research has experimental nature but one group has control over another one (Cohen, Manion and Morrison 322). It is apparent that the researchers have to discover all the threats to the internal validity before holding an experiment. Moreover, it is critical to understand the importance of the standard deviation while evaluating and comparing the results of the participants of two groups. Lastly, the threats to the external validity also have to be taken into account while analyzing the results, as they might affect the relevance of the research.
Works Cited
Cohen, Louis, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison. Research Methods in Education. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011. Print.
“Statistics: Standard Deviation. Descriptive Statistics. Probability and Statistics. Khan Academy.” Youtube. 2009. Web.