Question

Indicate what kind of design was used: Between-subjects, Within-subjects, or Mixed.

Example 1 ANSWER: ______________________________

              A researcher is interested in social rejection and substance abuse. Half the participants play a game of Cyberball and experience social rejection, while half the participants play a game of Cyberball but do not experience social rejection. The researcher then offered all participants the option to drink alcohol. The researcher found that the people who had been rejected drank significantly more compared to those who did not experience rejection.

Answer 1

The between the subjects designs is a design of study whereby two groups are tested under different conditions simultaneously. One is the control group and the other is the experimental group.

THe within the subject designs conduct bith the tests i.e. the one to be conducted in the control situations and the one to be conducted in the experimental situation on the same subjects. The same subjects are retested for different conditions

Mixed design contains a list of different variables. Some are tested and hence classified as between subject variables and others as within subject variables. Therefore it uses both the designs and is called mixed factorial design

The given example or the given study above uses a between the subjects design as the participants are divided into 2 halves and then they are tested under two conditions. One group receives rejection the other does nof and then the affect on drinking is analyzed. One group is control and the other is experimental group and both are divided and tested for different levels or extremes of the variable i.e. social rejection simultaneously. Hence it is a between the subjects design