For this activity, you are tasked with designing an experiment studying one of the following variables:

Relational satisfaction
Self-esteem
Political preferences
Learning achievement
You must choose to include one of the variables listed above in your study. You can decide whether it is going to be your independent variable or your dependent variable. This means that you will choose at least one other variable to include in your study. This second variable can be anything (that would make logical sense to study in relationship to the variable you choose from the list above).

Step 1: Defining the Study (10pts)
Once you’ve chosen your variable of interest from the list above, you should begin your assignment by stating a clear research question that you are setting out to answer. Then you should identify your independent variable and dependent variable. You should also provide a conceptual definition and an operational definition for each. Your operational definition should reflect specific indicators that you identify as important for measuring your variables.

When outlining your IV and DV, you need to articulate at least one hypothesis

regarding the relationship you would expect to see between your variables. When stating your hypothesis, be sure to outline the direction of the correlation you would expect to see between your variables. You should also provide a rationale for your proposed hypothesis. That is, explain why you predict the relationship you outline in your hypothesis. (You may draw on a theory you’ve learned, from previous research you are familiar with to explain your prediction, or you may use logical reasoning to explain your prediction).

Step 2: Methods (20pts)
Discuss your proposed experimental design. First, identify your participants. Discuss how you will gather your sample, and whether you need to consider any inclusion criteria (who you will purposely include in your sample) or exclusion criteria (who you will purposely exclude). Be sure to clearly identify a sampling method (e.g., simple random sampling, convenience sampling) and outline how you plan to use that approach to gather your sample (i.e., practically how will you implement the sampling approach you choose – for instance, if you need a sampling frame, identify what it will be; if you decide to use snowball sampling, how will you identify your first few participants). You should justify your choice of sampling approach and discuss at least one benefit and one drawback inherent with your sampling choice.

Next, outline which experimental design you would choose (e.g., pre-test/post-test, Solomon 4 group, etc.) and then describe, based on your chosen design, what your experiment would look like. That is, walk us through your experiment in detail: Be sure to include a discussion of the differences between your control condition and experimental condition(s). This design should align with the IV and DV you outlined in Step 1.

Step 3: Critique (15pts)
First, discuss how your experiment addresses the three criteria of establishing causality in nomothetic studies. Next, identify at least one threat to internal validity and one threat to external validity in your design. Third, discuss at least one potential confounding variable that could introduce spuriousness into your results, and how you could attempt to address this confound.

Lastly, what are the overall weaknesses in your design? What are its strengths? Outline at least one reason why this design is superior to a survey design in answering your specific research question. Though you will not have any statistics to analyze, you should also discuss one potential instrumental and symbolic value of your hypothetical findings (that is, assuming that your findings support your hypothesis, how are your findings likely to be instrumentally and symbolically relevant?)

Using the criteria and format suggested above, write your responses to the prompts above.
This is an exercise, not a formal paper, so you do not need to be concerned about an introductory paragraph or topic sentences. However, we ask that the exercise be 5-6 pages long, double-spaced, so we can get them back to you in a timely fashion. Your responses should address all of the questions raised above and you should make an effort to connect your responses to concepts discussed in class. Be sure to proof and correct your work.