In this ABC news video, a reporter shows what happened when she presented herself with her naturally curly hair or her straightened hair, in three situations.
1. Consider the first experiment--with the panel of men.
a. What were the independent and dependent variables in the reporter's study?
b. How did she manipulate the independent variable--as within groups or between groups?
c. Interrogate the internal validity of this study. What confounds do you notice and how do they affect her ability to conclude that "men like women with straight hair better"? How might you redesign her study to make better conclusions?
d. Interrogate the statistical validity of her report---what questions are worth asking?
e. What about external validity? Ask questions about two aspects of this study's external validity.
Journalist Taryn Winter Brill demonstrated what happened when she straightened her natually curly hair. Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
2. Now consider the second experiment--with the group of children.
a. What were the independent and dependent variables in this second study?
b. How did she manipulate the independent variable this time--as within groups or between groups?
c. Interrogate the internal validity of this study. What problems do you notice and how do they affect her ability to conclude that "kids prefer women with straight hair"? What should she change in a future study?
3. Finally, consider the last experiment--the job interview.
a. What were the independent and dependent variables in this third study?
b. How did she manipulate the independent variable this time--as within groups or between groups?
c. Interrogate the internal validity of this study. What problems do you notice and how do they affect her ability to conclude that "employers are more likely to hire women with curly hair"?
where can the answers to such questions be found
Posted by: b | 04/01/2013 at 08:47 PM