Procedure for Conducting an

Experiment
Chapter 9
Institutional Approval

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

reviews research protocols for studies using nonhuman
animals
determines if proposed procedures are ethical
e.g., avoid or minimize pain and discomfort
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
reviews research protocols for studies using human
participants
primary concern is participant welfare
has informed consent been obtained?
do potential benefits of study outweigh risks to participants?
 Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
• All research involving human subjects must be approved by IRB.
• Primary concern is the welfare of the participants.
Research Protocol – detailed description of a study.
Risk/Benefit analysis
- IRB boards decision is final!
External validity – to whom and in what
circumstances do the results of the study
apply. External validity is not a design
issue. It is a questioned that needs to be
addressed in interpreting and using the
findings of the study.
 Animal Research in
Medicine
External validity here depends on how good
a Model the biological systems on the animal
is of the human system.
Behaviorist and the Rats: What’s up with that?
Research Participants

Chosen participants depends on research

question
obtaining animals
albino variant of brown rat is most
commonly used
the Animal Welfare Act regulates
care and housing
the Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals (1996) provides a
guide to using animals appropriately
Research Participants

Obtaining human participants

recruitment depends on type of participant needed
examples
research question dictates homeless
participants then you would contact homeless
shelters and visit areas frequented by homeless
individuals
research question dictates school children as
participants then you would contact schools
and possibly pediatricians’ offices
convenience sample of college students often used in
psychological research
may not be representative of target population
Research Participants

Obtaining human participants

using the Internet to recruit research participants is
becoming more common
advantage
providing access to a larger and more
diverse sample than otherwise possible
disadvantage
select groups may not have access to
Internet (e.g., disabled)
sample may not be representative of
target population
No matter how participants are recruited
important to report how participants were
selected and assigned to research conditions
(methods section)
Sample Size

How many research participants should be

included in the research?
practicality must be balanced with the
increased power that accompanies a large
sample
Power
The probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis
Correctly saying the treatment conditioned produced an
effect
Power of at least .80 is desired
i.e., we want to correctly reject a false null 80% of the time
Factors that influence power
sample size
as sample size increases, power increases
so does time and money required to complete research
alpha level
for now, all you need to know is that alpha is set at 0.05
effect size
the magnitude of the relationship between two variables in a
population
can be estimated at small, medium, and large
examine literature for approximate effect size estimation
Should conduct Power Analysis to estimate sample size
Power Analysis
↑ Sample Size ↑ Power
↑ Effect Size ↑ Power

↑ Alpha ↑ Power

ch12(1) 15
Apparatus and/or Instruments
How will independent variable be
manipulated and how will dependent
variable be measured?
depends on nature of research
may involve active participation by
researcher
example – Langhinrichsen-
Rohling and Turner (2012)
a particular type of apparatus
examples – computers, MRI,
EEG
Behavioral Research Methods is a good
source to identify research instruments
Procedure and Scheduling

Procedure
detailed description of how experiment
will be conducted
important to allow for future replication
Scheduling of research participants
availability of the researcher and
participants
anticipate drop out rates with human
participants
Consent to Participate
Informed consent necessary unless waived by IRB
Consent form should include the following elements:
basic information about the study
details about procedure of study including possible risks
any potential benefits that might be derived
the type of compensation provided and compensation penalty
for early withdrawal
for sensitive topics (e.g., depression, abuse) extra information
for individuals who need assistance
participants must be informed that they can withdraw from
study at any time without penalty
if using questionnaire, a statement indicating that participant can
refuse to answer any question without penalty
participants must be informed as to how the records and data
obtained will be kept confidential
Instructions and Data Collection

Instructions
should be precise, but not overly complex
refrain from certain phrases
“pay attention”, “relax”, and “ignore
distractions”
language should be simple and on the
level of the participant
warm-up trials can assess understanding
of instructions
Data collection
follow design
Debriefing

Functions
ethical
undo any deception involved in study
decrease stress or risk if possible
attempt to return participants to pre-experimental state
particularly important if deception is used
educational
this mostly applies to students participating in research for class credit
methodological
to establish effectiveness of independent variable or deception
to judge accuracy of participations’ suspicions and perceptions
sense of satisfaction
participant feeling as if they contributed to science and society
How to debrief
face to face generally preferred
begin by asking if participant has
questions
question participant to determine if all
aspects of study were clear
if deception was used
attempt to determine if participant
discerned true nature of study
explain the purpose of using
deception
ask participant not to reveal details of
experiment to other participants
Pilot Study

A brief run-through of the entire experiment

with a few participants prior to the actual
collection of data
Serves several purposes:
establishes clarity of instructions
provides evidence that independent
variable is being manipulated adequately
familiarizes researcher with the procedure
Debriefing (Post Experimental Interview)
Functions
1) Ethical
- undo deception
- undo stress

2) Educational Function

3) Post experimental Inquiry

4) Satisfaction