Detecting Flaws in Research
Check your understanding of how to conduct sound research by looking for methodological flaws in the following studies.
Study 1. A researcher announces that he will be conducting an experiment to investigate the detrimental effects of sensory deprivation on perceptual-motor coordination. The first 40 students who sign up for the study are assigned to the experimental group, and the next 40 who sign up serve n the control group. The researcher supervises all aspects of the study’s execution. Experimental subjects spend two hours in a sensory deprivation chamber, where sensory stimulation is minimal. Control subjects spend two hours in a waiting room that contains magazines and a TV. All subjects then perform ten 1-minute trials on a pursuit-rotor task that requires them to try to keep a stylus on a tiny rotating target. The dependent variable is their average score on the pursuit-rotor task.
Study 2. A researcher wants to know whether there is a relationship between age and racial prejudice. She designs a survey in which respondents are asked to rate their prejudice against six different ethnic groups. She distributes the survey to over 500 people of various ages who are approached at a shopping mall in a lower-income, inner-city neighborhood.
Identify the flaws that are apparent in each study.
| Methodological flaw | Study 1 |
Study 2 |
| Sampling bias | ||
| Placebo effects | ||
| Distortions in self-report | ||
| Confounding of variables | ||
| Experimenter bias |