Experimental Design Assignment
Hazy Hot & Humid
Many people believe that people become more aggressive and short-tempered on hot days, and are concerned that a summer such as the one just experienced puts a severe strain on orderly social relations. Others counter that any observable increase in public violence during hot summers may be a statistical artifact, resulting from greater numbers of people venturing out-of-doors to enjoy the warmer weather.
Does prolonged exposure to heat increase aggression in humans? Your task is to develop and present in writing a research plan to help resolve this argument, using the experimental method, as follows:
1) Test a hypothesis relating to the argument [hint: it is usually simpler to try to prove the positive side of the argument]. Then,
2) plan a controlled experiment (not a survey, nor a naturalistic observation) to test your hypothesis. Remember to think about (and comment on) the following:
a) operational definitions, experimental and control conditions
b) independent and dependent variables (and extraneous variables which you no doubt will have controlled)
c) population and random sample
d) experimental and control groups (and how you will assign participants thereto), and
e) publication and replication.
(Be sure to explain carefully and completely all your design decisions at each step in the process. Make sure the reader understands everything that will happen in your experiment and how it will prove or disprove your hypothesis).
3) Be sure to explain how the data your experiment generates can be used to "test" the hypothesis (in other words, how will it be analyzed).
Lastly, it is (naturally) essential that your design meet all reasonable ethical standards!
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