1. Experience carefully planned: Experimental research designs
Chapter 7
Experience carefully planned:
Experimental research designs

2. A Wonderful Method
Laboratory experiments allow researchers to see how things turn out when one and only one thing is changed
ceterus paribus makes for A Wonderful Life

3. A Brief History of True Experiments
Manipulation
Random assignment

4. Strengths of True Experiments
Eliminate individual differences
Eliminate other kinds of confounds
Pull researchers into the laboratory
Allow researchers to observe the invisible
Provide information about interactions
Minimize noise

5. Are True Experiments Realistic?
Problem: Artificiality
Solution: Two forms of realism
A recipe for experimental realism?

6. Trade-Offs Between Internal and External Validity
Experimental versus nonexperimental strategies
Laboratory versus field experiments

7. The “How-To’s” of Lab Studies
Setting the stage
Rehearsing and playing the part:
Be suave - Be honest
Be nice - Be a good liar
Be educated - Be attentive
Replicate as needed

8. Key Terms from Chapter 7 Person confound Manipulation
Procedural confound
Operational confound
Noise
Mundane realism
Experimental realism
Manipulation check
Manipulation
Independent variable
Dependent variable
Random assignment
Matching