It is widely
recognized that the growth of the Internet in recent years has led to people of
all ages having unprecedented access to both hard-core pornography and ‘soft’ erotic
materials. Over a similar time period, there has also been a massive increase
in levels of infection of sexually-transmitted diseases, not only HIV/AIDS, but
also other diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea. Researchers contend that
these two phenomena are linked, and further that the increasing availability of
‘soft’ erotic material in particular actually promotes irresponsible sexual
behaviour. In an attempt to establish whether this is in fact the case, this
study attempted to explore the effects of exposure to ‘soft’ erotic material on
attitudes towards responsible sexual behaviour.
Forty-four female (mean age = 24.7
years) and thirty-one male (mean age = 26.2 years) postgraduate students at the
University of the Witwatersrand volunteered to
participate in the study. Subjects were told that they were participants in a
study on information processing and that they would have the opportunity to
discuss the study and their results upon completion of the data collection
phase of the study.
Subjects were randomly assigned to one
of two groups. Individuals in both groups completed the Sexual Attitudes Survey
A. Group 1 was then shown an Internet-based short movie entitled ‘Reckless Abandon
in the Western Cape’
(restricted to no under-18’s and classified as ‘soft’ erotic material). During
the same time-frame, Group 2 was shown an Internet-based ‘neutral’ movie entitled
‘The Mating of South African Birds’, which described the courtship behaviour of
various species of birds indigenous to the Western Cape. Once they had finished
watching the movies, both groups were asked to complete the Sexual Attitudes
Survey B (an alternate but equivalent scale to Survey A).
Mean scores obtained by both groups on
the Sexual Attitudes Survey are presented in Table 1.
|
|
Survey A
|
Survey B
|
|
Group 1 (n
= 39)
|
92.8
|
85.7
|
|
Group 2 (n
= 31)
|
93.3
|
92.2
|
Statistical analysis of results
indicated a statistically significant difference in attitudes for individuals
in Group 1 but no statistically significant difference for individuals in Group
2. Based on this the researchers concluded that exposure to ‘soft’ erotic
material negatively affected attitudes towards responsible sexual behaviour.
1.
What
is the research question underpinning this study?
Does exposure to ‘soft’ erotic
material have an effect on attitudes towards responsible sexual behavior?
2.
Briefly
state the hypothesis being tested here.
Exposure to ‘soft’ erotic material
does have an effect on attitudes towards responsible sexual behavior
3.
What
is the independent variable?
Exposure to ‘soft’ erotic material
4.
How
was the independent variable operationalised?
Group 1 was then shown an Internet-based
short movie entitled ‘Reckless Abandon in the Western Cape’ (restricted to no under-18’s
and classified as ‘soft’ erotic material). During the same time-frame, Group 2 was
shown an Internet-based ‘neutral’ movie entitled ‘The Mating of South African Birds’,
which described the courtship behaviour of various species of birds indigenous
to the Western Cape.
5.
What
is the dependent variable?
Attitudes towards responsible sexual behavior
6.
How
was the dependent variable operationalised?
Individuals in both groups completed
the Sexual Attitudes Survey A before the manipulation and the Sexual Attitudes
Survey B after the manipulation. Thus attitudes towards responsible sexual behavior
was operationalized using the Sexual Attitudes Survey – Forms A and B
7.
Which
group is the experimental group?
Group 1 –
They were shown an Internet-based short movie entitled ‘Reckless Abandon in the
Western Cape’ (restricted to no under-18’s and classified as ‘soft’ erotic material).
8.
Which
group is the control group?
Group 2 – They were shown an
Internet-based ‘neutral’ movie entitled ‘The Mating of South African Birds’,
which described the courtship behaviour of various species of birds indigenous
to the Western Cape.
9.
What
type of research design has the researcher employed? Substantiate your answer.
Quantitative. True-experimental
because control and experimental group present, IV was manipulated (the film
that contained ‘soft’ erotic material), there was random assignment.
Pretest-postest control group design because both groups were prested and post
tested.
10. Discuss one advantage and one
disadvantage of using this research design
Advantage - Pretest establishes
baseline on attitudes
Disadvantage – Prestest introduces
possibility of carryover effects
11. Which research design would you have
suggested had you been commissioned to do the research initially? Substantiate
your answer
Solomon four group design since this
overcomes pretest effects
12. Based on the results of the study, the
researchers’ clearly made causal
conclusions. Discuss whether or not these conclusions are appropriate by
making reference to notions of causality.
Conclusions justified since
covariation criterion met because experimental and control group present,
temporal precedence met because the IV was manipulated, non-spuriousness met to
an extent because random assignment present
13. Identify and discuss five possible
threats to the internal validity of this study.
History – it is possible for something
to occur in the context for one group but for the other
Diffusion – all are postgraduate
students on campus. There is the possibility for the experimental group to find
out what the control group is receiving and vice versa.
Differential Attrition – it is evident
from group sizes before and after that people dropped out of the study
Hawthorne effects – students could
respond in a particular way simply because they are taking part in a study not
in response to the manipulation
Good subject effects - students could
respond in a socially desirable way because they are being altruistic subjects
Interactional experimenter effects –
students can be responding to biological or psychosocial characteristics of
experimenter rather than to the manipulation
14. Suggest three ways in which you think
the internal validity of this study could have been improved.
History – have standardized conditions
for both groups
Diffusion – make sure students have no
opportunity to meet or conduct study over shorter time period.
Differential Attrition – use quasi
controls
Have random
sampling.
Get bigger
sample sizes
Use
triangulation
Use
interviews or focus groups to supplement qualitative data
SELF
STUDY:
1.
The
best description of internal validity deals with the questions of:
whether the observed outcomes of an
experiment are the result of the experiment itself rather than the result of
some extraneous factor
2.
When
a researcher is concerned that the results which she observes after an
experiment might have occurred because of the composition of the group itself
rather than because of the experimental treatment, with which of the major
threats to internal validity is she most obviously concerned?
Selection Bias
3.
If
a researcher is concerned that it might have been some extraneous event that
occurred while the experiment was going on rather than the experimental
treatment itself which caused an observed outcome, with which of the following
threats to internal validity is he most obviously concerned?
History
4.
A
primary school teacher finds that her Grade One pupils are having trouble with
their basic mathematics concepts. She therefore tries a new teaching method and
plans to evaluate it at the end of the year to see if it has made an
improvement. She will consider her program successful if the children have
mastered a large number of skills at the end of the year which they had not
mastered at the beginning of the year. Which of the following is the most
obvious threat to the evaluation of the program?
Maturation
5.
Each
year a primary school teacher provides a lesson in his physical education class
on ‘The Rules of International Soccer (Football).’ In 2010, since it was a Soccer
World Cup year, he decided to revise and upgrade the lesson. He initiated his lesson
to coincide with the start of the televised portions of the World Cup. In the
final exam, he asked his usual ten questions about International soccer. He
found that the 2010 students scored substantially higher than the students from
the previous three years had on the same questions. He concluded that his new
program had been effective. Which of the following is the most obvious threat
to the internal validity of the study?
History
6.
Changes
in subject’s behaviour which occur through the realisation that they are the
subjects in a scientific study are called:
Hawthorne effects
7.
The
use of recorded laughter to accompany television and radio comedy shows is a
well known and widespread practice. The authors chose to investigate the
effects of audience laughter on individuals’ responses to humour. Forty
undergraduate psychology students at the University of Aberdeen
were placed in one of two conditions:
a) an
experimental condition, in which participants listened alone to a radio comedy
program, 'Arnold Brown and Company ' (BBC Radio, 1990) with the natural
laughter of the audience present on the track, and
b) a
control condition that listened to the same recording without the laughter.
After listening to the tape, the participants were presented with a
questionnaire to assess their humour response. The questionnaire consisted of
7-point rating scales assessing funniness and enjoyability. Statistical
analyses revealed the following:
Funniness - F (1,36) = 8.33, p = 0.007 **
Enjoyment - F (1,36) = 7.89, p = 0.008 **
** significant at 0.01 level of significance
Those participants who listened with laughter present gave significantly
higher
ratings of the funniness and enjoyability of the recording.
1.
State
the hypothesis being investigated in this study.
The presence of audience laughter is
associated with individuals’ responses to humour
2.
What
is the independent variable?
Presence/ansence of audience laughter
3.
What
is the dependant variable and how has it been operationalised?
responses to humour – was operationalized
using a questionnaire consisting of 7-point rating scales assessing funniness
and enjoyability.
4.
What
type of research design has the researcher employed? Substantiate your answer.
Quantitative. Quasi-experimental
because control and experimental group present, IV was manipulated (the presence
or absence of audience laughter), there was no random assignment. Postest only
nonequivalent control group design because both groups were only post tested.
5.
Discuss
one advantage and one disadvantage of using this research design
Advantage – no pretest so no carryover
but also disadvantage no baseline
Disadvantage – no random assignment so
no non-spuriousness. Also no other controls for extraneous variables
6.
Which
research design would you have suggested had you been commissioned to do the
research initially? Substantiate your answer
Pretest-posttest control group design
or Solomon four group design (with justification) will be correct
7.
Would
the lecturer be justified in stating a causal hypothesis for this study?
Substantiate your answer by making reference to notions of causality
No. Conclusions not justified since
covariation criterion met because experimental and control group present,
temporal precedence met because the IV was manipulated, but non-spuriousness
not met because no random assignment present. They also did nothing else to
control for extraneous variables.
8.
Identify
and briefly discuss five possible threats to the internal validity of this
study.
History – it is possible for something
to occur in the context for one group but for the other
Diffusion – all are postgraduate
students on campus. There is the possibility for the experimental group to find
out what the control group is receiving and vice versa.
Selection bias – no random assignment
to control or experimental groups
Hawthorne effects – students could
respond in a particular way simply because they are taking part in a study not
in response to the manipulation
Good subject effects - students could
respond in a socially desirable way because they are being altruistic subjects
Interactional experimenter effects –
students can be responding to biological or psychosocial characteristics of
experimenter rather than to the manipulation
9.
Suggest
three ways in which this study may be improved.
History – have standardized conditions
for both groups
Diffusion – make sure students have no
opportunity to meet or conduct study over shorter time period.
Selection bias – use random
assignment, use quasi controls
Have random
sampling.
Get bigger
sample sizes
Use
triangulation
Use
interviews or focus groups to supplement qualitative data
