Professor Kim's students designed an experiment to investigate whether self-esteem was affected by how often she called on them when they raised their hand in class. They planned to count the number of times each student was called on when they raised their hand, ask each student how their self-esteem was before and after the experiment, and compare their responses based on how often they were called upon. Their causal hypothesis was, "If the professor calls on you more often when you raise your hand, your self-esteem will go up." What is one significant flaw in their design?
A)They have no independent variable.
B)They have no operational definition for self-esteem.
C)They have no dependent variable.
D)They don't have a sample.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Without an operational definition of self-esteem, they can't know if they are measuring self-esteem. Each student may have a different idea about what self-esteem means and how to calculate and report it.

Professor Kim's Students Designed an Experiment to Investigate Whether Self-Esteem