When would you use a matched groups design? How would you conduct a matched groups design? Are there any disadvantages to such a design? Give an example of where this might be important to do.
What will be an ideal response?
Ans: A matched groups design is like the randomized group design but takes into consideration the need for control before placing participants in groups. This is best done if there is a variable or several variables, that are thought to influence the dependent variable that cannot be kept constant. This variable(s) can be a number of things, such as age, gender, weight, or intelligence. The resulting groups should be nearly identical on the chosen matching variable. Then, the matched participants are randomly placed in groups. This makes sure to “take care of” these variables even though you cannot control them. Then, you can test the actual independent variable and perhaps isolate the effects without worrying about the other variables. For example, studying the effect of different teaching methods on academic performance could be affected by the IQ scores of the children in the classes. If we had the ability, we could match the students for IQ and then randomly place them into the classes to be exposed to the different teaching techniques. The problem is we often do not have the ability to match our groups on independent variables that are important. Also, it is very easy to fail at random assignment because the children with lower IQs may look like they need help more.
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