#2.

The psychology professor has two sections of students that were not randomly
assigned. The treatment will be weekly quizzes. The desired outcome is improved student
learning. I will assume that student learning is measured by the total score on all exams not
including the weekly quizzes. This design can be diagrammed with the following notation:
N

O
O

Based on these assumptions I would recommend a nonequivalent control group posttest only
design for this quasi experiment.
If student learning is measured by scores on major exams through the course,
however, the notation changes, as would the recommendation. The following notation
represents an alternative possibility for this design:
N
N

O
O

O
O

Based on these assumptions, I would recommend a nonequivalent control group time-series

design for this experiment. Overall, this later design is a stronger design because of the
multiple observations and points of comparison between the two sections.
#4. Usually the nonequivalent control group design uses intact groups. Since these
groups are not randomly selected, the major confound for this design is selection bias.
Selection bias arises when the control and experimental groups are not comparable before the
study and gives an alternative explanation for any differences in the posttest. In this design
there are a couple of social interaction threats that are possible. Students in the experimental
section may find out that students in the control section are not getting quizzes and react
negatively, causing resentful demoralization, or react competitively, causing compensatory
rivalry. Either case would tend to equalize the outcomes between groups, minimizing the
chance of seeing a program effect even if there is one (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008, p. 171).

#6. Three reasons a researcher might choose a single-case design include, (a) when a
single person or condition is of interest, (b) when replication of results is essential, and (c)
situations in which error variance needs to be eliminated in the effect of a treatment on a
single individual. One study was interested in mitigating or eliminating auditory
hallucinations and delusions as a result of schizophrenia, and evaluated the use of an
innovative rational-emotive cognitive treatment. From this treatment there was a noticeable
and immediate reduction in depression and anxiety and an increase in the patients quality of
life that extended through the 12-month follow up.

#8. Single case designs can be implemented in a number of ways. In a reversal

design the focus is on a single participant, a single behavior, or a single situation, and
involves the independent variable being applied and removed one or more times to assess its
impact. Succeeding periods of non-treatment are called the reversal and can demonstrate
what happens to the behavior with a return to the baseline. A reversal design is very similar
to a within-subjects group design because each subject experiences both the control and
experimental condition.