Answer to Question #282404 in Statistics and Probability for Tzuyu

Question

Timothy Wilson, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia, studies the effect of "personal narratives" on people's behavior. For example, if the "story" you have about your academic ability is positive, you do better in school than if your "story" is negative. Something as simple as hearing older students describe overcoming challenges similar to yours can help you change your story and improve your performance.

A) Suppose you have 40 college freshmen who have volunteered to be part of an experiment. Design a completely randomized experiment that tests the hypothesis that hearing older students talk about overcoming challenges improves academic performance. Be sure your design addresses how randomization will be incorporated.

B) Can this experimental design be carried out in a double blind manner? Explain.

Answer 1

A)

The students in the study were divided into two groups. One group watched videos of students a couple of years ahead of them, who spoke of their own challenges in first year. The students on the video talked about how many students see their grades suffer a bit in first year, but things usually improve.

The control group received no information related to studying and didn't watch the videos shown to their classmates in the other group.

The aim of the study was to help students re-frame the story they told about themselves. Instead of saying "I'm just not cut out for college," Wilson and his colleagues hoped by watching the videos and hearing the stories of others, the students would shift their thinking to a more positive message: "I'm not alone in these challenges and I'll eventually handle it."

And the experiment worked. The group who watched the videos had a lower drop-out rate and achieved higher marks the following semester than students in the other group.

B)

This experimental design cannot be carried out in a double blind manner.

One of the groups have to get some information for motivation. So we can check how this information helps to achieve higher marks in studying.