Evaluating Operational Definitions When an experimenter fails to randomly assign subjects to different experimental conditions, a ____ threat is present since treatment groups may differ on subject variables.
A)selection
B)statistical regression
C)subject mortality
D)testing

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The term "selection threat" refers to the possibility that the participants assigned to different group conditions are not equivalent at the start of the study, which may lead to confounding variables affecting the results. This happens when assignment to groups is not random. Statistical regression, subject mortality, and testing threats refer to different sources of bias in experimental design but are not directly related to the issue of random assignment to groups.

Evaluating Operational Definitions When an Experimenter Fails to Randomly Assign