Exam 7: Causal Research Design: Experimentation

To control for extraneous variables, a researcher may conduct an experiment in an artificial environment. This enhances external validity, but it may limit the generalizability of the results, thereby reducing internal validity.

Matching is a method of controlling extraneous variables that involve matching test units on a set of key background variables before assigning them to the treatment conditions.

Independent variables are variables or alternatives that are manipulated and whose effects are measured and compared.

________ result when the researcher is unable to achieve full manipulation of scheduling or allocation of treatments to test units but can still apply part of the apparatus of true experimentation.

In an after-the-fact examination of a situation, we can confidently rule out all other causal factors.

When more than one variable must be controlled, the researcher must use true experimental designs.

The everyday meaning of causality is more appropriate to marketing research than is the scientific meaning.

Which of the following is an ethical concern associated with doing experiments?

The internal and external validity of field experiments conducted overseas is generally lower than in the United States.

Pretest-posttest control group and Solomon four-group designs are ________ distinguished by the fact that the researcher can randomly assign test units to experimental groups and also randomly assign treatments to experimental groups.

Extraneous variables are also called confounding variables because unless they are controlled for, they affect the independent variable and thus confound the results.

Only causal designs are truly appropriate for inferring cause-and-effect relationships.

The one-group pretest-posttest is a type of ________. These designs do not control for extraneous factors by randomization.

History (H)refers to the occurrence of events before the experiment.

In the pretest-posttest control group design shown above, selection bias is eliminated by ________.

There is no problem developing experimental designs that have high levels of both internal and external validity.

A ________ design to measure the effectiveness of a test commercial for Sears would be implemented as follows. Two groups of respondents would be recruited on the basis of convenience. Only the experimental group would be exposed to the TV program containing the test (Sears)commercial. Then attitudes toward the department store of both the experimental and control group respondents would be measured. The effectiveness of the test commercial is measured as O₁ - O₂.

Experimentation is becoming increasingly important in marketing research, but there are limitations of time, cost, and administration of an experiment.

What is the main disadvantage of factorial designs?

The conditions that must be satisfied before making causal inferences include all of the following except ________.