Question

Design a between-subjects/ within-subjects experimental design to assess time couples spend

together and their relationship satisfaction

Answer 1

For this study, we can put out an advertisement in a newspaper to employ couples to participate for the study for two weeks. Each couple will be kept apart by arranging houses for them during the course of the study.

In the between subjects design, the couples will be randomly assigned to 3 different groups- those spending no time together, those spending upto 3 hours everyday together and those spending more than 3 hours everyday together. After the completion of two weeks, we can assess the level of relationship satisfaction and check if there are significant differences between the different groups.

For the within subject design, we can extend the duration of participation in the study to three weeks. It will be decided every week whether a couple would be allowed to spend either no time, upto 3 hours or more than 3 hours each week. The decision would be made randomly. At the end of each week, relationship satisfaction will be measured. At the end of the experiment, we can check if we can find a pattern of changes in relationship satisfaction based on the time spent.