After reading your colleague’s post, consider the following in your reply:

• Assess the alignment of your colleague’s proposed null and alternative
hypotheses with the research question. Explain your reasoning and provide
alternative suggestions.

• Evaluate your colleague’s proposed research design and explain whether you
agree with the research design chosen. Provide a brief rationale for your
opinion and cite the resources as necessary.

• Identify potential threats to internal and external validity that your colleague
has not mentioned. Recommend possible solutions to the areas of internal and
external validity in the research design proposed by your colleague.

• Review the ethical implications your colleague has described and identify any
additional potential ethical issues.

REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S DISCUSSION BY ANSWERING THE

ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS

DISCUSSION 1(Tiairra)

Apply the scientific method to the information included within the scenario and
develop a null and a research hypothesis based on it.

Null: The increased active participation of the instructor does not affect the level of
motivation displayed by the students.

Research Hypothesis: The purpose of this research is to test the hypothesis that more
participation from teachers in class discussions will, in turn, lead to higher levels of
motivation among students. The purpose of this research is to provide evidence in
support of the hypothesis that those students who participate in the intervention
approach experience an increase in motivation to take part in group discussions.

Review the quantitative research designs in the required readings and choose one that
is suitable for your research question and hypotheses. Explain why this choice is most
appropriate to test your hypotheses.

The educators concluded that the experiment should consist of two distinct parts for
each educator. As stated by Skidmore (2008), the initial segment functions as a control
group and is unaffected by any experimental intervention, whereas the subsequent
section does undergo the intervention. Although Skidmore’s essay does not explicitly
state the specific test employed in this instance, it utilizes the Pretest-Posttest control
group Design. Skidmore (2008) explains that in experimental research, one group, known
as the experimental group, receives a specific intervention or therapy (referred to as X),
while another group, known as the control group, does not receive any intervention or
receives an alternative intervention. This inquiry aims to identify potential internal

threats to the validity of the study and elucidate the measures intended to safeguard
against these threats. Apply concepts of ethics to the study that is going to be done and
discuss the consequences of this kind of research about the populations and cultural
considerations that will be represented in the samples that will be used in the scenario.
Because this is a post-test rather than a pretest, we may say that this is a random
assignment rather than a random sampling. Experiments are concerned with an
independent variable that may cause or predict the outcome of the dependent variable,
as Skidmore describes (Skidmore, 2008).

Describe the target population, the desired sample, and any cultural considerations that
may be involved.

Children in the sixth grade can benefit from jigsaw instruction, the targeted sample is the
variables of the results from fourth graders learning in a jigsaw setting in the classroom.
The study lasted for five weeks and focused on children in the sixth grade. In the course
of conducting this research, no cultural factors were taken into account or measured in
any way. However, sixth graders who participated in a study that did not protect their
rights as students evaluated the atmosphere and culture of the Jigsaw classroom. This
was done to gauge how the pupils felt about the environment in the classroom (Stanczak
et al., 2022).

Identify potential internal and external threats to validity. Explain how you might
mitigate these threats.

Since this is a post-test and not a pre-test, we know that the participants were selected
at random. According to what Skidmore has to say about experiments, they focus on an
independent variable that may cause or predict the outcome of the dependent variable
(Skidmore, 2008). The scenario depicts the intervention itself as the independent
variable, while the answers of the participants are depicted as the dependent variable.
Because the course is delivered online, there is some uncertainty over how valid the
experiment is. There is a potential for unethical behavior due to the involvement of
youngsters. Consent that is given after being fully informed would be required, and the
parents should be kept informed as well. However, there is little information supplied
about either the population or the culture in the situation, thus it would be vital to
consider the children’s culture.

Determine ethical issues that would need to be addressed. Explain what you would do
to ensure an ethical study.

The student’s right to privacy and the laws that protect those rights were violated, which
is a breach of ethics. In addition, several students had to be excluded from the research
project; however, this could have been prevented if you had explained to each
participant that the questionnaire must be returned within a fair amount of time to
compare (Creswell,2018). Before I started my research, I would look back over the ethics
guidance published by the American Psychological Association, particularly if I was going
to be using children in the investigation. Ensuring that the parents, children, and teachers
who are participating in the study are provided with both a written and verbal

explanation of what outcomes can be anticipated from the quantitative research being
conducted here. In addition, adhering to all of the criteria and avoiding any potentially
sensitive topics that could infringe on the rights and privacy of participants is required.
(“Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.,” 2002).

References
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. (2002). American
Psychologist, 57(12), 1060–1073. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.57.12.1060Links
to an external site.

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE.

Skidmore, S. (2008). Experimental design and some threats to experimental validity: A
primer Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Educational Research
Association (New Orleans, LA, February 6, 2008). Retrieved from the ERIC database in
the Ashford University Library.

Stanczak, A., Darnon, C., Robert, A., Demolliens, M., Sanrey, C., Bressoux, P., Huguet, P.,
Buchs, C., & Butera, F. (2022, August). Do jigsaw classrooms improve learning outcomes?
Five experiments and an internal meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(6),
1461–1476. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000730

After reading your colleague’s post, consider the following in your reply:

• Assess the alignment of your colleague’s proposed null and alternative
hypotheses with the research question. Explain your reasoning and provide
alternative suggestions.

• Evaluate your colleague’s proposed research design and explain whether you
agree with the research design chosen. Provide a brief rationale for your
opinion and cite the resources as necessary.

• Identify potential threats to internal and external validity that your colleague
has not mentioned. Recommend possible solutions to the areas of internal and
external validity in the research design proposed by your colleague.

• Review the ethical implications your colleague has described and identify any
additional potential ethical issues.

REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S DISCUSSION BY ANSWERING THE

ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS

DISCUSSION 2 (Latacha)

“What amount and intensity of exercise is likely to relieve symptoms of depression?”

Null and Alternative hypotheses to the research question

Ho: Exercise is likely to relieve symptoms of depression

Ha: To relieve symptoms of depression, one must exercise for X amount of time at
Y intensity level.

Appropriate to test hypotheses

An approach to the research question “What amount and intensity of exercise is likely to
relieve symptoms of depression?”, I would use an experimental design. This way I have
more control over the study by showing cause and effect using a random sample and an
independent variable (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Nullifying the theory that exercise is
likely to relieve symptoms of depression, because you could argue that “exercise”
is subjective. Thus, typing on your computer for 10 hours is not considered exercise
because the result is one is still depressed.

Describe the target population, sample, and cultural considerations.

The target population would be baby boomers who are sedentary, and the desired
sample size would be 120, an equal number of men and women who have mild
symptoms of depression—as stated by their physicians. I would not be concerned with
cultural considerations because the goal of the study is to show cause and effect, by
determining the length of time and intensity level needed to relieve symptoms of
depression.

Identify internal and external threats and mitigate efforts.

Potential internal threats are human participants may not show up for the required
participation dates for the study. I would mitigate that by identifying how depression is
measured and evaluate those metrics to determine if it is feasible to reduce the number
of participant (IV) visits to yield the same results. The external threats would be
environmental. Is testing done in a lab, gym or outside in nature? For this, I would
separate the IVs into groups where there is an equal number of men and women in a lab,
gym, and out in nature. I would test with separate instruments based on the
environment.

Determine ethical issues that would need to be addressed.

To ensure ethical integrity, the participants and I would discuss in detail Section 8.02 of
the ethics code, Informed consent, subsection (2), their right to decline to participate,
and (3) the foreseeable consequences of withdrawing, Section 8.08, Debriefing, Section
4.01 Confidentiality, and Section 4.02, Limits of Confidentiality (American Psychological
Association, 2017), mainly since the experiment would be conducted in a group setting.

Thank you,

Tach Branch-Dogans

References
American Psychological Association. (2017, January). Ethical Principles of Psychologists
and Code of Ethics. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/indexLinks to an external site.

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE.