Question

For this homework assignment, the task is to come up with a way to test the hypothesis that internet use impairs classroom performance experimentally.

1 What experimental design will you use to test the hypothesis? (2 points)

           

2 Why did you decide to use this particular design? What specific threats to validity guided your choice of experimental design? (4 points)

3 How will you operationalize your independent variable? Here you first have to define the construct (so that we can evaluate whether your operationalization appropriately captures the construct). Then you also have to describe the general outline of the experiment so that we can evaluate your manipulation in the right context. For example, where will you conduct the experiment? Will you have a cover story for participants about the purpose of the study? If so, what will you tell them? Finally, how will you ensure that your manipulation of the independent variable is “clean” (no confounds)? (6 points)

4. How will you operationalize your dependent variable? Again, you must first define the construct, and then explain how you will measure it. You must also explain why you decided to measure your dependent variable in this way – and not in another way. (6 points)

5 State your hypothesis – using your specific operationalizations of the constructs. (2 points)

6 How will you test your hypothesis statistically? Under what circumstances would you conclude that the data supports your hypothesis? (2 points)

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) The notion behind this experiment is that students in class get easily distracted by the content on the internet. This distraction would lead them to have an impaired focus on classroom activities. Since these classroom activities help them understand their lessons better and consequently score better grades, it would be an assumption that a lack of focus due to internet usage would lead to a poor performance in class.

Hypothesis – It can be assumed that internet usage in a classroom has a negative correlation with the grades of a student due to the shift in focus and concentration.

Independent variable – The internet.

Dependent variable – The students’ grades.

Research questions: Does less or no internet usage in class comparatively increase the grades of the student compared to internet usage?

Does more internet usage in class comparatively decrease the grades of the student as compared to no internet usage?

Methodology – Experimental study.

An empirical study – Correlation coefficient through the detection of negative correlation.

Experiment – There would be a control group and an experimental group. Both groups would have students of mixed ages, races and genders but with an average intellect. In other words, no one in the group would have a learning disability or special requirements. Because of such prerequisites, the manipulations can be evaluated in the right context.

The control group and experimental groups would both have to sit for a few classes and give an exam without the internet being used in class. Their scores would be monitored. Once this is done, the control group and experimental group would have to sit for a few more classes but, this time the experimental group would be allowed to use the internet during these classes. These groups would have to take another test at the end of these classes.

The scores of both the groups from the first and the second test can be plotted on a graph in order to make an accurate comparison of the first and second test.

Educated guesses – It might be that the experimental group would score a lot less in the second test and the average scores of the control group would probably not have a significant change. The locus of control in the second test is the lack of focus from internet usage. Since this locus is used to manipulate the independent variable, the dependent variable of the test scores for the experimental group would see a significant drop.

Possible confounding variable – There might be a possibility that the test itself is challenging and the reason for the low scores is the difficulty level of the test. Secondly, there could be other distractions like daydreaming, personal issues or other variables that cause the student to be distracted. For this, it would be essential to ensure that the teachings and the tests are of a certain average level. That is to say that the students don’t find it too easy or too challenging. Thirdly, it must be ensured that the students do not have personal problems or other issues that are distracting them. For this, each student picked would have to be one without any problems of worry or anxiety. Also, the teaching sessions should not be more than 40 minutes. If they are too long, the student may lose focus even with or without the internet.

Once these circumstances are ensures, there would be a high internal validity for the scores. In order to ensure external validity, the test can be replicated on multiple control and experimental groups of students. This means that the test can be replicated to other classes to ensure post-operational validity. This is when one could assume that the graphs for analysing the correlation between the variables are actually valid and clean.