Forming the Method
Subjects
Instruments or
apparatus
Procedures
Design and analysis
The Method section explains how the study was conducted
and should allow a competent researcher to reproduce the study.
Planning the Method
Used to eliminate any rival
hypotheses
Is shoe size related to math
scores for grade-school
children?

Subjects Children in grades 1 to 5

Instrument
 Standardized math test and
shoe measuring device

Procedure
 Each subject foot was
measured and every
subject completed a
standardized math exam

Design and Analysis
 Shoe size and math score
were correlated to
determine the relationship
120
115
110
105
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Figure 1. Relationship of academic performance
and shoe size of children Grades 1-5.
Maximizing Results
Maxicon Principle


Maximize variance to
increase the odds that a
real relationship will be
discovered
Minimize error to reduced
the mistakes that
contaminate the data in
your experiment
Principles of Planning


KISS – simple is better
Less is More
Describing the Subjects
Number tested
Number of dropouts
Males vs. females
Age (mean and standard
deviation)
Height and Weight (mean
and std. dev.)
Any other important
characteristics pertinent to
the study
Describing Instruments
What are the validity and reliability
of the measures
How difficult is it to obtain the
measures
Is the equipment available, does it
work
Do you have the skills to administer
the tests
Can you evaluate subject’s
performance
Will the tests yield a reasonable
range of scores
Will your subjects spend the time
to take the tests
Describing Procedures
Collecting the Data
When, where, how
much time
Do you have pilot data?
How will you manage
the data
Planning the Treatments
How long, how intense,
how often
How will subject
adherence to
treatments be
determined
Do you have pilot data
to show how subjects
respond
Are the treatments
appropriate
Avoiding Errors in Experiments
Reduce the number of
people involved in the
experiment
Minimize, standardize and
randomize the contact the
researchers have with the
subjects
Pilot all your procedures
Describing Design and Analysis
Design
A description of how the
independent variables
are varied in each
treatment
Good designs allow the
dependent measure to
change without bias
A description of the
variables tested
Analysis
Descriptive information
about your groups
(means and standard
deviations)
The statistical tests to
establish group
differences