To test the impact of therapy on depression, a researcher tells a random half of his participants (falsely)that they failed an exam. He then conducts one hour of therapy with the "failure" participants. One week later the participants given false feedback are no more depressed than the control group, so the researcher concludes the treatment was effective. This would be described as which type of research?
A)A mixed design
B)An analogue study
C)A correlational design
D)Convenience sampling

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This study is an example of an analogue study, where the researcher creates an artificial situation in order to test the impact of a variable (in this case therapy) on a particular outcome (depression). The false feedback of failing an exam is an artificial situation designed to create a depressive mood in the participants, and the therapy is meant to address this mood. The fact that the treatment group did not differ significantly in depression levels from the control group suggests that the therapy was not effective, despite the researcher's conclusions.

To Test the Impact of Therapy on Depression, a Researcher