Research and Statistics
Daryl S. Paulson in Applied Statistical Designs for the Researcher, 2003
The controlled experiment is a fundamental tool for the researcher. In controlled experiments, a researcher selects samples at random from the population or populations of interest. One sample set is usually designated the control group and is the standard, or reference, for comparison. The other group (or groups) is the test group, the one to be subjected to the specific test condition one wishes to observe and measure. Other than the test condition(s), the control and test groups are treated in the same way. For example, if an experiment is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a surgical scrub solution in removing normal microflora from the hands, individuals from a population of healthy volunteers are assigned randomly to either the control group (no scrub) or the test group (scrub). Randomization ensures that each person is as likely to be assigned to the test group as to the control group.
Demand assessment and valuation *
Jamie Bartram, Rachel Baum, Peter A. Coclanis, David M. Gute, David Kay, Stéphanie McFadyen, Katherine Pond, William Robertson, Michael J. Rouse in Routledge Handbook of Water and Health, 2015
Despite these challenges, the recent trend towards the use of more RCTs in economics has allowed researchers to measure the demand for some (but not all) types of WASH goods and services directly using an experimental approach. The number of such studies is still small and the generalizability of their findings is unknown (Null et al. 2012), but the approach appears promising for better understanding demand for WASH technologies and interventions, especially because of the strong internal validity of the estimates that are obtained. In addition, RCTs allow testing of the extent to which this demand can be stimulated (equivalent to outward shifts in the demand curve) by marketing, peer pressure, or simple information provision (Jalan and Somanathan 2008, Brown et al. 2013). Important challenges of course remain with measuring demand for WASH goods and services (e.g., urban piped water supply) for which RCTs (and even quasi-experimental research designs) are more difficult to implement. There may also be ethical concerns with using RCTs to measure demand when higher prices are deemed to decrease adoption of a beneficial good.
Complex assessment of the flight crew’s psychophysiological state
Waldemar Wójcik, Sergii Pavlov, Maksat Kalimoldayev in Information Technology in Medical Diagnostics II, 2019
As a result of the developed methodology implementation, the optimal composition of the temperament categories was suggested, which includes 36 subsystems formed of four basic systems: choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic and melancholic. In each of the temperament categories subsystems, the same pilots are grouped into classes, with the human body medically and biologically corresponding to the same (optimal) parameters of homeostasis. In this case, special attention is paid to the identification of the crew members’ blood analysis results, with the same subsystems defined in the temperament categories. The implementation of these procedures takes place in the process of experimental research planning. Such training of the operator allows to obtain at measurements the correct values of the parameters of the specialists’ psychophysiological state that are grouped into identical classes according to the temperament categories. The flight personnel general classification of temperaments into certain classes is given in Figure 1. The results of the conducted studies allow providing a high level of measuring reliability process of the information energy field parameters when evaluating the psychophysiological state of the flight crew members.
Dealing with Possible Baseline Inequalities Between Experimental Groups – The Case of Motor Learning
Published in Journal of Motor Behavior, 2020
Gal Ziv, Ronnie Lidor, Yael Netz
Experimental research – a particular set of rules for describing and explaining existing phenomena in operational and controlled settings – has been regarded as the most restricted model for the scientific method (Gratton & Jones, 2010; Thomas, Nelson, & Silverman, 2015). Experimental research has also been perceived as the traditional approach to conducting quantitative research in various fields, among them education, medicine, psychology, and exercise and sport sciences. The term experiment has been defined as an observation under the condition of purposive control by the observer of the rise and course of the phenomena observed (Cresswell, 2012; Thomas et al., 2015; Wundt, 1907). In experimental settings, the researcher can manipulate conditions (treatments and interventions) in an attempt to establish cause-and-effect relationships. Experiments are typically performed to test activities, practices, or procedures to determine whether they influence an outcome.
Attachment Style, Openness to Experience, and Social Contact as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Homosexuality
Published in Journal of Homosexuality, 2020
Irem Metin-Orta, Selin Metin-Camgöz
Several limitations of this study deserve mentioning. First, it is a correlational study, which does not allow for causal inferences. Therefore, experimental research is needed for a better understanding of the causal relationship between the variables. Second, the sample consists of university students, which restricts the generalizability of the results. For future studies, researchers should select samples that represent broader populations with different age groups and cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. For instance, a past study (Detenber et al., 2013) conducted in Singapore has yielded more favorable attitudes toward homosexuals and acceptance among people with Western orientation compared to those with Asian orientation, as well as less favorable attitudes toward homosexuals and acceptance among Muslim people compared to members of other religious groups in Singapore. As a result, more research needs to be done to establish the influence of culture and religion on anti-homosexual attitudes.
Effect of teach-back method on breastfeeding success: A single blind randomized controlled study
Published in Health Care for Women International, 2023
Arzu Kul Uçtu, Nebahat Özerdoğan
This study, which has a randomized controlled experimental research design. The sample of the study was divided into two groups by randomization. Breastfeeding success levels were compared by providing breastfeeding education and counseling service based on the teach-back method to one group of mothers (intervention group), and standard breastfeeding education and counseling service to another group (control group). Opinions were received from five academicians working in the field of Midwifery, Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, who have researches on breastfeeding. Recommendations from the CONSORT group (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) were followed in this study. This study is registered in The ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) ID: NCT04808726.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Clinical Trial
- Efficacy
- Natural Experiment
- Dependent & Independent Variables
- Confounding
- Randomized Experiment
- Random Assignment
- Replication
- Average Treatment Effect
- Test Statistic