Research Design

​What i know

1. Which of the following best describes a research design?

a. It serves as a framework for the literature review and answering the research questions.

b. It is the overall strategy that you choose to integrate while planning the research proposal.

c. It makes the conclusion valid because it takes into consideration all the assumptions that went into deriving the various inferences.

d. It ensures that appropriate data will be obtained that permits an objective analysis, leading to valid inferences about the stated problem.

2. How many tests do homogeneous experimental units be subjected to the same treatment under similar conditions?

a. at least one replicate

b. minimum of two replicates

c. minimum of three replicates

d. multiple times

3. Anna thinks that if people are exposed to ultraviolet light then they are more likely to get skin cancer. She designs an experiment wherein sample A consisted of people who were exposed to ultraviolet light and sample B was not. Which is the independent variable in the problem?

a. skin cancer

b. samples A and B

c. exposure to ultraviolet rays

d. people who are exposed to ultraviolet light

4. A researcher plants three plots of flower seeds. He weeds and waters the first plot every day. He weeds and waters the second plot every other day. He leaves the third plot alone. After 12 weeks, the researcher measures the height of each flower. What is the role of the plots of flowers in the experiment?

a. control group

b. experimental units

c. dependent variable

d. independent variables

5. Justin B. believes that the temperature lowering during the fall months is what causes the color of the leaves to change. He set up an experiment wherein he placed some plants in 80 degrees rooms and some in 60-degree rooms. He then observed the color of the leaves for a total of 1 month. At the end of the month, Justin observed that ¾ of the plants in the 60-degree temperature had been to change colors and only ¼ of the plants in the 80-degree temperature began to change colors. What is the dependent variable in the problem?

a. the changing colors of the leaves

b. temperature lowering during the fall months

c. ¾ of the plants placed in the 60-degrees temperature

d. ¼ of the plants placed in the 80-degrees temperature

6. The boss in a company wants to experiment if workers will complete the 2 months of stress management training will lessen their number of sick days in a year. How should the control group in this experiment be treated?

a. no participation in the stress training program

b. complete the stress training program for 2 months

c. participate in different training programs in 2 months

d. participate in the stress training program at different number of days

Situation: A farmer wants to study whether organic fertilizer will increase the growth of the lettuce plants at a fast rate. He used 20 lettuce plants for this experiment. He randomly chose 10 lettuce samples treated with organic fertilizer while the remaining 10 samples are to be treated with commercial fertilizer. The amount of water and sunlight are kept the same for all the sample plants.

7. What type of experiment design is used in the given situation?

   a. complete block design

   b. completely randomized design

   c. randomized complete block design

   d. both b and c

Situation: A farmer wants to study whether organic fertilizer will increase the growth of the lettuce plants at a fast rate. He used 20 lettuce plants for this experiment. He randomly chose 10 lettuce samples treated with organic fertilizer while the remaining 10 samples are to be treated with commercial fertilizer. The amount of water and sunlight are kept the same for all the sample plants.

8. Which are the experimental units?

   a. 10 lettuce plants without fertilizer

   b. 10 lettuce plants with organic fertilizer

   c. 20 lettuce plants used in the experiment

   d. 40 lettuce plants used in the experiment

Situation: A farmer wants to study whether organic fertilizer will increase the growth of the lettuce plants at a fast rate. He used 20 lettuce plants for this experiment. He randomly chose 10 lettuce samples treated with organic fertilizer while the remaining 10 samples are to be treated with commercial fertilizer. The amount of water and sunlight are kept the same for all the sample plants.

9. What is the purpose of keeping the same amount of water and sunlight for all lettuce plants?

   a. serve as extraneous variables

   b. to focus on the experimental treatment

   c. to know other variables that may contribute to the growth of the lettuce plants

   d. both a and b

Situation: A farmer wants to study whether organic fertilizer will increase the growth of the lettuce plants at a fast rate. He used 20 lettuce plants for this experiment. He randomly chose 10 lettuce samples treated with organic fertilizer while the remaining 10 samples are to be treated with commercial fertilizer. The amount of water and sunlight are kept the same for all the sample plants.

10. What is the primary purpose of having a group of 10 lettuce plants treated with commercial fertilizer?

    a. control

    b. extraneous

    c. experimental

    d. study subject

​RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design serves as a framework for research planning and answering your research questions. Formulating your research design means determining the following (McCombes 2020):

What type of data do you need?

Who are the sources or the participants of your study? Which variables and or hypotheses (if relevant) will you investigate?

How will you collect and analyze your needed data?

B. Significance:

• It serves as a guide for direction during the actual experimentation.

• It allows a gain of maximum information relevant to the problem at a minimum cost.

• It makes the statistical test of significance valid because it takes into consideration all the assumptions that went into deriving the various statistics.

The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different components of the study coherently and logically, thereby, ensuring you will effectively address the research problem; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data.

The following are the basic elements that you must consider when planning the sequence of steps that will embody the research design:

1. Identification of variables

2. Application of basic research principles

3. Consideration of the research design structure

For a Research Design to be considered sound, three basic

principles are expected to be present.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF

RESEARCH DESIGN

LOCAL CONTROL

REPLICATION

RANDOMIATION

1.
2.
3.

ACTIVITY II : RECOGNITION OF BASIC RESEARCH

PRINCIPLE

What is the primary purpose of the 30
runners who used the new insole in the
experiment?

1.

The primary purpose of the 30 runners who
used the new insole in the experiment is to
test the effectiveness, if it can prevent shin
splints resulting from running.

LOCAL CONTROL

Refers to the balancing, grouping and blocking of experimental

units so that the units within each block are relatively

homogenous.

In engeneering, the products were called experimental

unit.

Ex. Prototype of a device/computer program to determine its correctness

ACTIVITY II : RECOGNITION OF BASIC RESEARCH

PRINCIPLE

2. What is the significance of the 30 runners
who used the existing insole in the
experiment?

The significance of the 30 runners who used
the existing insole in the experiment that the
company sells is to see if it has less
effectiveness than the new insole.

REPLICATION

Refers to the conduct of an experiment or test using three or
more homogenous experimental units subjected to the same

treatment under similar conditions.

Repetition of a test under controlled conditions, making

the test of significance possible

How many times you test and repeat the experiments.

ACTIVITY II : RECOGNITION OF BASIC RESEARCH

PRINCIPLE

3. How is replication applied to test the
significance of the result?

The replication applied to test the
significance of the result by performingthe
testing three times for each treatment.

RANDOMIZATION

Refers to an unbiased method of assignment of experimental

units ( or subjects) to the treatment/s or vice ersa.

UNITS

THE

EXPERIMENTAL UNIT

Also referred to as the experimental subject, is the focus of

testing or experimentation.

It is the organism,material,product, or device that is subjected

to one or more treatments.

The source of observation or data.

Ex: plants,animals or inanimate objects ( lettuce heads, bacterial

culture set-ups, mice and human testers.)