As they walked down the street, participants (unaware they were part of a study) were approached by a confederate posing as a panhandler (i.e., a person begging for money). The confederate asked the participant for either seventy-five cents or for whatever change he or she had handy. The researchers compared how much money participants gave across these two conditions. This is best characterized as which type of research design?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This design involves manipulating an independent variable in a natural setting and measuring the effects on a dependent variable. In this case, the independent variable is the request for a specific amount of money ($0.75 versus any change available), and the dependent variable is the amount of money given by participants. This study is conducted in a real-life environment (on the street), making it a field experiment.

As They Walked Down the Street, Participants (Unaware They Were