Preparing the Research Setting

Sometimes people spend considerable time selecting a research design and statistical analysis and spend virtually no time thinking about the implications of the research setting. You need to consider what space is available and how it might be modified to increase the validity of the research.

You want the space to be as close to the environment to which you want to generalize as possible. This will enhance the external validity of the research. You want to have it free of distractions, which could add error variance if not controlled. This will enhance statistical validity and increase the sensitivity of the study. You want to make sure that there are no systematic differences in the environment so that one group experiences a different environment than the other group, with of course the exception of the independent variable manipulation that defines the groups. This will enhance internal validity.

For the following research studies, give some thought to the ideal research environment and the reasons for each aspect of the environment. Then imagine that you are to run the study in a less than ideal situation, such as a lab space borrowed from someone else. what minor modifications could enhance the environment sufficiently to improve the validity of the study.

You are studying how age affects learning in a group of rats. You have three groups of rats. One group is 3 months old, a second is 6 months old, and a third is 12 months old. You plan to test their memory by having them run a maze with a reward at the end. Your dependent measure is how quickly they run the maze after they have had three successful trials of learning.
You want to study the perceptual processing of six-month-old infants. Your plan is to test them in an infant chair with a screen in front of them. You will be flashing lights on the screen at various locations and observing whether the child orients to the light by looking in that direction.
You want to study attitudes toward teachers in high school students and the relationship between those attitudes and the characteristics of the teacher's classroom style.
You are interesting in surveying adults about their sexual attitudes and behavior in much the same way that Kinsey did in the 1940s and 1950s.
You are interested in studying the processes by which juries arrive at a decision about a case. You cannot actually observe juries, but you can create jury situations with volunteers. The volunteers are exposed in groups of six to the relevant facts of a trial via carefully constructed videotapes. They are then to discuss the evidence and arrive at a decision as if they were the actual jury deciding the case.
You want to evaluate the effectiveness of two study approaches to enhancing reading comprehension in fourth-grade children. These are exercises that they would normally do at home.