Purchase Solution

Control in Experimental Studies

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

Can an experimenter have too much control in carrying out studies? Do you think that some researchers become too removed from the real-life behavior they might be investigating?

Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary

The control in experimental studies are determined.

Solution Preview

It's true that experiments are great for the control they allow over variables that might influence your dependent variable. Well-controlled experiments have good 'internal validity', meaning that if you've designed a good experiment, you can be quite certain that any changes in your dependent variable are due to changes you've made in the independent variable (i.e., to your manipulation).

However, with this benefit comes a loss of 'external validity', that is, a loss of generalizability. Because the experimental situation is so tightly controlled and done in a very limited situation, you are not certain that your results would be seen beyond the lab setting. You cannot know that without doing your study in a more natural setting, but if you do that, you lose the high internal validity that comes with an experimental design. This is a constant trade-off in science, and is not ...

Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Positive Psychology

A quiz related to the introductory concepts of positive psychology.

Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

Erik Erikson researched eight stages of psychosocial development beginning at birth and ending at death. This quiz challenges your knowledge of each stage, the corresponding age range, and the conflicts present during each stage.

The Psychology of Sleep

This quiz is to check your understanding of the sleep-related part of psychology.

Psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud

This quiz explores the personality theory of psychoanalysis, in particular reference to how Freud conceptualized of this theory.

Common Characteristics of Qualitative Methods

This quiz evaluates the common characteristics seen in qualitative methodology.

View More Free Quizzes
Related BrainMass Solutions

  • Experimental psychologists, control over variables

    359079 Experimental psychologists seek to assume control over the variables in their studies. Experimental psychologists seek to assume control over the variables in their studies. There are advantages and disadvantages to high experimental control.

  • Placebo and Double-blind Technique

    Explain the importance of the Placebo, and the double-blind technique in carrying out research studies. Let's look at a brief overview of the experimental design first; in other words, the bigger picture.

  • Evidence Based Practice in Application

    Here is a list of types of evidence, listed from strongest to weakest: Systematic Review of Experimental Studies (Randomized Control Trials) Meta-Analyses of experimental and quasi-experimental studies Integrative reviews of experimental and quasi-experimental

  • Research Methodology - Motivation

    In applied social research, experimental studies are preferred for their use of randomization to control human bias (Bickman & Rog, 2009).

  • Nonexperimental Studies

    Nonexperimental studies do not involve the manipulation of variables and/or do not assume control over other variables. Do you think nonexperimental studies are less scientific? What is the reason for your explanation?

  • Program Design and Evaluation - Quasi-Experimental Designs

    So to reiterate, the two forms of quasi-experimental studies can be either: a pre-posttest design study without a control group or, a pre-posttest design with a control group.

  • Epidemiology and Definition of Relative Risk

    It can be used in cohort studies and clinical trials. This statistic is not good for case control studies.

  • Independent and dependent variable; control, experimental group

    Control group: Group that studies alone Experimental group: Group that studies in interactive groups (d) Is the independent variable manipulated, or is it a participant variable? Manipulated 4.

  • Topics in experimental research

    473629 Experimental Studies: Generalizability and Snowball Sampling 1. Why are experimental studies not very generalizable? What can be done to improve the external validity of experimental studies? 2.

  • Quasi-experimental design

    631804 Quasi-experimental design What is quasi-experimental design in research and when do we use it? https://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quasiexp.php What is quasi-experimental design in research and when do we use it?

View More Related Solutions