field experiment

a study that is conducted outside the laboratory in a “real-world” setting. Participants are exposed to one of two or more levels of an independent variable and observed for their reactions; they are likely to be unaware of the research. Such research often is conducted without random selection or random assignment of participants to conditions and without deliberate experimental manipulation of the independent variable by the researcher. See field research; quasi-experimental research.

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Psychology term of the day

December 23rd 2024

within-subjects design

an experimental design in which the effects of treatments are seen through the comparison of scores of the same participant observed under all the treatment conditions. For example, teachers may want to give a pre- and postcourse survey of skills and attitudes to gauge how much both changed as a result of the course. Such a design could be analyzed with a dependent-samples t test, a within-subjects analysis of variance, or an analysis of covariance. Also called related-measures design; repeated measures design; within-groups design. Compare between-subjects design.