How to Design an Experiment

Psych. 101

Designing an Experiment

1. If twelve year old girls, who normally eat sugary foods, where intoduced to thirty minutes of exercise each day, then I think that over a six month period of time they would not only benefit physically, but would also benefit psychologically from increased self-esteem.

2. I am studying the effects what just thirty minutes of exercise a day would do for the self-esteem and physical attributes of twelve year old girls, possibly keeping them from becoming obese in their teens. I would go to the local middle school, with parents permission, and select my experimental group by asking girls selective questions regarding their eating habits of sugary foods.

3. Experimental Group - the subjects who receive the treatment.

I will populate this group by introducing them to thirty minutes of exercise each day for the next six months.

4. Control Group - subjects who undergo all the same procedures as the experimental subjects do, ecept that the control subjects do not receive the treatment.

5. Variables - any factor or item that can change.

a.) independent - a treatment or somethingelse that the researcher controls or manipulates; the independent variable in my experiment would be the thirty minutes of exercise

a day.

b.) dependent variable - one or more of the subjects behaviors that are used to measure the potential effects of the treatment or independent variable; the dependent variable in my experiment would be the raise in self-esteem and confidence in themselves.

6. I would measure how the independent variable (treatment) effects those behaviors that have been selected as the dependent variables.

7. Analyze all the data and if my hypothesis is correct I need to have it replicated by other researchers, psychologists, etc.

8. No, because I would get parental consent before questioning the subjects or proceeding with the experiment