Dr. Wizard randomly assigns people to two groups. Those in the experimental group receive a "subliminal audiotape" that they are told will improve their self-esteem. The other group receives no treatment. Three weeks later Dr. Wizard interviews them and reports that people in the experimental group show higher self-esteem. What change would IMPROVE the procedure for this research?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Making the procedure double-blind means that neither the participants nor the person conducting the interviews knows which group they belong to, thus reducing the potential for biased results. This would improve the research procedure. Eliminating the independent variables (A) would render the study useless as there would be no experimental design. Using a convenience sample (B) is not reliable as it may not be representative of the population. Including more demand characteristics (C) would bias the results as participants may change their behavior based on what they think is expected of them.

Dr Wizard Randomly Assigns People to Two Groups