Classic experimental design

Pre and Post conditionExperiments1Classic experimental designRandom assignment to control and treatment conditions

Why random assignment and control groups?2Classic experimental designRandom assignment helps with internal validitySome threats to internal validity:Experimenter/Subject expectationMortality biasIs there an attrition bias such that subjects later in the research process are no longer representative of the larger initial group? Selection biasWithout random assignment our treatment effects might be due to age, gender etc. instead of treatmentsEvaluation apprehensionDoes the process of experimentation alter results that would occur naturally?

Classic experimental design when done properly can help guard against many threats to internal validity

3Classic experimental designPosttest only control group design:Experimental Group R X O1Control Group R O2

With random assignment, groups should be largely equivalent such that we can assume the differences seen may be largely due to the treatment4Classic experimental designSpecial problems involving control groups: Control awarenessIs the control group aware it is a control group and is not receiving the experimental treatment? Compensatory equalization of treatmentsExperimenter compensating the control group's lack of the benefits of treatment by providing some other benefit for the control groupUnintended treatments The Hawthorne effect (as it is understood though not actually shown by the original study) might be an example5Mixed design: prepost experimentsBack to our basic control/treatment setupA common use of mixed design includes a pre-test post test situation in which the between groups factor includes a control and treatment conditionIncluding a pretest allows:A check on randomnessAdded statistical controlExamination of within-subject change2 ways to determine treatment effectivenessOverall treatment effect and in terms of change6Pre-test/Post-testRandom assignmentObservation for the two groups at time 1Introduction of the treatment for the experimental groupObservation of the two groups at time 2Note change for the two groups

7Mixed design2 x 2Between subjects factor of treatmentWithin subjects factor of pre/postExamplePrePosttreatment2070treatment1050treatment6090treatment2060treatment1050control5020control1010control4030control2050control10108SPSS outputWhy are we not worried about sphericity here?No main effect for treatment (though close with noticeable effect)Main effect for prepost (often not surprising)Interaction

9InteractionThe interaction suggests that those in the treatment are benefiting from it while those in the control are not improving due to the lack of the treatment

10Another approach: t-testNote that if the interaction is the only thing of interest, in this situation we could have provided those results with a simpler analysisEssentially the question regards the differences among treatment groups regarding the change from time 1 to time 2.t-test on the gain (difference) scores from pre to post11T-test vs. Mixed output

t2 = F12Another approach: ANCOVAWe could analyze this situation in yet another wayAnalysis of covariance would provide a description of differences among treatment groups at post while controlling for individual differences at pre*Note how our research question now shifts to one in which our emphasis is in differences at time 2, rather than describing differences in the change from time1 to time 213*If the controlling for recalls the language of regression for you, note that is the best way to think about it, specifically a sequential regression in which the covariate (here the pre-test scores) goes in the model first, followed by the grouping variable, with the post-test as the outcome. This is not an analogy, they are equivalent. Special problems of before-after studies Instrumentation changeVariables are not measured in the same way in the before and after studies. A common way for this to occur is when the observer/raters, through experience, become more adept at measurement.History (intervening events)Events not part of the study intervene between the before and after studies and have an effectMaturationInvalid inferences may be made when the maturation of the subjects between the before and after studies has an effect (ex., the effect of experience), but maturation has not been included as an explicit variable in the study.Regression toward the meanIf subjects are chosen because they are above or below the mean, one would expect they will be closer to the mean on re-measurement, regardless of the intervention. For instance, if subjects are sorted by skill and then administered a skill test, the high and low skill groups will probably be closer to the mean than expected.Test experienceThe before study impacts the after study in its own right, or multiple measurement of a concept leads to familiarity with the items and hence a history or fatigue effect.

14Pre-test sensitizationSo what if exposure to the pretest automatically influences posttest results in terms of how well the treatment will have its effect?Example:Attitudes about human rights violations after exposure to a documentary on the plight of Tibet

15Solomon 4-group designA different design can allow us to look at the effects of a pretest

16R X OR OR O X OR O OIf these two groups are different, pretest sensitization is an issue.Pre X Treatment interactionIf these two groups are different, there is a testing effect in general.Solomon 4-group designIncluding a pretest can sensitize participants and create a threat to construct validity. Combining the two basic designs creates the Solomon 4-group design, which can determine if pretest sensitization is a problem:

17Solomon 4-group designWhy not used so much?Requires more groupsHowever, it has been show that this does not mean more subjects necessarilyEven if overall N maintained with switch to S4, may have more power than a posttest only situationNot too many interested in pretest sensitizationRegardless one should control for it when possible, just like wed control for other unwanted effectsComplexity of design and interpretationAlthough understandable, as usual this is not a good reason for not doing a particular type of analysisLack of understanding of how to analyzeHow do we analyze it?

18Solomon 4-group designWe could analyze the data in different waysFor example: One-way ANOVA on the four post-test resultsTreat all four groups as part of a 4 level factorContrast treatment groups vs. non

This would not however allow for us to get a sense of change/gain19Alternative approach (Braver & Braver)2 x 2 Factorial design with control/treat, pre/not as two between subjects factors

Test A: Is there an interaction?Significant interaction would suggest pretest effectEffect of treatment changes depending on whether there is pretest exposure or not

20Simple effectsTest B & C: simple effectsB: Treatment vs Control at PrepresentC: Treatment vs Control at PreabsentIn other words, do we find that the treatment works but only if pretest?O2 > O4, O5 = O6

If so, terminate analysisThe treatment effects are due to pretest

21Simple effectsHowever, could there be a treatment effect in spite of the pretest effect?In other words, could the pretest merely be provide an enhancement of the treatmentEx. Kaplan/Princeton Review class helps in addition to the effect of having taken the GRE beforeIf the other simple effect test C is significant also (still assuming sig interaction) we could conclude that was the case22Non-significant interactionIf there is no interaction to begin with, check the main effect of treatment (test D)If sig, then treatment effect w/o pretest effectHowever this is not the most powerful course of action, and if not sig may not be indicative of no treatment effect because we would be disregarding the pre data (less power)23Non-significant interaction: alternatives to testing treatment main effectBetter would be to use analysis of covariance that takes into account differences among individuals at pretest (Test E)T-test on gain/difference scores (Test F)Or mixed design (Test G)Between groups factor of TreatmentWithin groups factor of Pre-PostAs mentioned, F and the interaction in G are identical to one anotherHowever test E will more likely have additional power24AncovaWe can interpret the ANCOVA as allowing for a test of the treatment after posttest scores have been adjusted for the pretest scoresBasically boils down to: What difference at post would we see if the participants had scored the same at pre?We are partialling out the effects of pre to determine the effect of the treatment on posttest scores25In SPSSThe ancova (or other tests) will only concern groups one and two as they are the only ones w/ pre-tests to serve as a covariate or produce difference scores for the mixed design/t-test approach

26If the Ancova results (or test F or G) show the treatment to still have an effect, we can conclude that the treatment has some utility beyond whatever effects the pre-test has on the post-testIf that test is not significant however, we may perform yet another test27Test Ht-test comparing groups 3 and 4 (O5 vs.O6)Less power compared to others (only half the data and no pre info) but if it is significant despite the lack of power we can assume some treatment effect

28Meta-analysisEven if this test is not significant, Braver & Braver (1988) suggest a meta-analytic technique that combines the results of the previous two tests (test E, F or G and that of H)Note how each is done only with a portion of the dataMore power from a consideration of all the dataTake the observed p-value from each test, convert to a one-tailed z-score, add the two z-scores and divide by 2 (i.e. the number of z-scores involved) to give zmetaIf that shows significance* then we can conclude a treatment effectNowadays might want to use effect size r or d for the meta-analysis (see Hunter and Schmidt) as there are obvious issues in using p-valuesOne might also just examine the Cohens d for each (without analysis) and draw a conclusion from that29*A two-tailed probability is given for zmeta

30Problems with the meta-analytic technique for Solomon 4 group designNote that the meta-analytic approach may not always be the more powerful test depending on the data situationSawilosky and Markman (1990) show a case where the other tests are sig meta notAlso, by only doing the meta in the face of non significance we are forcing an inclusion criterion for the meta (selection bias)31ProblemsBraver and Braver acknowledge that the meta-analytic technique should be conducted regardless of the outcomes of the previous testsIf test A & D nonsig, do all steps on the right sideHowever they note that the example Sawilosky used had a slightly negative correlation b/t pre and post for one setup, and an almost negligible positive corr in the other, and only one mean was significantly different from the othersProbably not a likely scenarioSince their discussion the Braver and Braver approach has been shown to be useful in the applied setting, but there still may be concerns regarding type I error rateGist: be cautious in interpretation, but feel free to use if suspect pre-test effects

32MCs summary/take1. Do all the tests on the right side if test A and D nonsigIf there is a treatment effect but not a pretest effect, the meta-analysis is more powerful for moderate and large sample sizesWith small sample sizes the classical ANCOVA is slightly more powerful As the ANCOVA makes use of pretest scores, it is noticeably more powerful than the meta-analysis, whereas the t test is only slightly more powerful than the meta-analysis.When a pretest either augments or diminishes the effectiveness of the treatment, the ANCOVA or t test is typically more powerful than the meta-analysis. 2. Perhaps apply an FDR correction to the analyses conducted on the right side to control for type I error rate3. Focus on effect size to aid your interpretation33More things to think about in experimental designThe relationship of reliability and powerTreatment effect not the same for everyoneSome benefit more than othersSounds like no big deal (or even obvious), but all of these designs discussed assume equal effect of treatment for individuals34ReliabilityWhat is reliability?Often thought of as consistency, but this is more of a by-product of reliabilityNot to mention that you could have perfectly consistent scores lacking variability (i.e. constants) for which one could not obtain measures of reliabilityReliability really refers to a measures ability to capture an individuals true score, to distinguish accurately one person from another on some measure

It is the correlation of scores on some measure with their true scores regarding that construct35Classical True Score TheoryEach subjects score is true score + error of measurementObsvar = Truevar + Errorvar

Reliability = Truevar/ Obsvar = 1 Errorvar/ Obsvar

36Reliability and powerReliability = Truevar/ Obsvar = 1 Errorvar/ Obsvar

If observed variance goes up, power will decreaseHowever if observed variance goes up, we dont know automatically what happens to reliabilityObsvar = Truevar + Errorvar

If it is error variance that is causing the increase in observed variance, reliability will decrease*Reliability goes down, Power goes downIf it is true variance that is causing the increase in observed variance, reliability will increaseReliability goes up, Power goes down

The point is that psychometric properties of the variables play an important, and not altogether obvious role in how we will interpret results, and not having a reliable measure is a recipe for disaster.

37*This is what one can typically assume to be the case in most research situations as we are not in an all else being equal type of situation. Error in AnovaTypical breakdown in a between groups designSStot = SSb/t + SSeVariation due to treatment and random variation (error)The F statistic is a ratio of these variancesF = MSb/MSe38Error in AnovaClassical True Score TheoryEach subjects score = true score + error of measurementMSe can thus be further partitionedVariation due to true differences on scores between subjects and error of measurement (unreliability)MSe = MSer + MSesMSer regards measurement errorMSes systematic differences between individualsMSes comes has two sourcesIndividual differencesTreatment differencesSubject by treatment interaction39Error in AnovaThe reliability of the measure will determine the extent to which the two sources of variability (MSer or MSes) contribute to the overall MSeIf Reliability = 1.00, MSer = 0Error term is a reflection only of systematic individual differencesIf Reliability = 0.00, MSes = 0Error term is a reflection of measurement error onlyMSer = (1-Rel)MSeMSes = (Rel)MSe40We can test to see if systematic variation is significantly larger than variation due to error of measurement

41With a reliable measure, the bulk of MSe will be attributable to systematic individual differencesHowever with strong main effects/interactions, we might see sig F for this test even though the contribution to model is not very muchCalculate an effect size (eta-squared)SSes/SStotalLyons and Howard suggest (based on Cohens rules of thumb) that < .33 would suggest that further investigation may not be necessaryHow much of the variability seen in our data is due to systematic variation outside of the main effects?Subjects responding differently to the treatment42SummaryGist: discerning the true nature of treatment effects, e.g. for clinical outcomes, is not easy, and not accomplished just because one has done an experiment and seen a statistically significant effectSmall though significant effects with not so reliable measures would not be reason to go with any particular treatment as most of the variance is due poor measures and subjects that do not respond similarly to that treatmentOne reason to perhaps suspect individual differences due to the treatment would be heterogeneity of varianceFor example, lots of variability in treatment group, not so much in controlEven with larger effects and reliable measures, a noticeable amount of the unaccounted for variance may be due to subjects responding differently to the treatmentMethods for dealing with the problem are outlined in Bryk and Raudenbush (hierarchical linear modeling), but one strategy may be to single out suspected covariates and control for them (ANCOVA or Blocking)43ResourcesZimmerman & Williams (1986)Bryk & Raudenbush (1988)Lyons & Howard (1991)

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