Free Paper Sample: Threats to Validity Exercise

Identify the Possible Threat to Internal Validity Using "MRS SMITH". Use the words below to fill in the missing blank. Use all of the words and no repeat of any word.

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Maturation Selection by Maturation Interaction

Regression to the mean Mortality

Selection of subjects Instrumentation

Testing

History

History 1. A researcher is interested in a study comparing two different teaching methods. One method is used at School A and the other method is used at School B. During the course of the study, the principal at School B is fired and replaced by a new principal

Instrumentation. 2. Children recently enrolled at a nursery school are having trouble adjusting to the teacher and the scheduled activities. The head teacher designs a program of storytelling that is intended to help them adjust. Four weeks later, observations are made and the children are better adjusted than they were before the program began.

Selection by Maturation Interaction 3. A researcher wants to assess the effectiveness of a college energy conservation program. This program included an energy conservation campaign as well as an improved method for monitoring the college's energy usage. The researcher recorded the amount of energy use based on archival sources for the 2 years prior to the program and for the 2 years following the end of the program. The researcher found a decrease in energy use at about the time when the program was initiated.

Testing 4. An educational psychologist designs a demanding but fair spelling test that can be administered to grade school children. The test is found to be valid and reliable. A researcher selects the test to help evaluate a "cognitive" approach to teaching spelling. A 5th grade class is tested prior to being taught the new method and then again after the new method is taught. The children show improvement on their spelling scores from the first to the second test administration, suggesting that the program was effective in helping children to learn to spell.

Regression to the mean 5. All students planning to enroll in a small Midwest college are given math aptitude tests prior to registration for classes. Students scoring the lowest are selected for a 1-week math enrichment program to be taken prior to registration for classes. Following participation, students are tested again. Scores on the math aptitude test following the enrichment program show that students have improved. Credit for this change is given to the program.

Maturation 6. A researcher is interested in the impact that a new science curriculum has on boys and girls' long term interest in science. He matches 4th grade boys and girls on their overall interest in science and tracks them until the 12th grade. The researcher found that by the 12th grade, the boys had significantly more interest in science than the girls. The researcher concluded that the new science curriculum was only effective in increasing boys' long-term interest in science.

Selection of subjects 7. A psychologist is trying to figure out whether males or females know more about political issues. The psychologist stops people on the street, asking them to participate in a survey on political issues. The results of his survey found that men know much more about politics than women do.

Mortality 8. A social scientist is hired by a large company to assess the effect of an employee training program. Volunteers are sought from the employees and a modest bonus offered for participation. Thirty-six employees agree to participate and are randomly assigned to the program condition (n = 18) or to a waiting list control group (n = 18). The employees on the waiting list are scheduled to receive the training program following the first group's training; meanwhile, these employees serve as a control group for the group trained first. Training requires that the employees attend sessions after normal work hours and also those they complete brief written assignments at home. Twelve of the employees finish the training program and an analysis of appropriate job performance measures reveals that their scores are better than of those the employees in the control group.