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Imagine you are a school psychologist tasked with evaluating a new reading intervention program across two different elementary schools. You cannot randomly assign students to the program. Describe how you would set up a pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design to evaluate this intervention, specifying your groups, measurements, and why this design improves upon a posttest-only approach.
Question: Imagine you are a school psychologist tasked with evaluating a new reading intervention program across two different elementary schools. You cannot randomly assign students to the program. Describe how you would set up a pretest-posttest nonequivalent groups design to evaluate this intervention, specifying your groups, measurements, and why this design improves upon a posttest-only approach.
Sample answer: I would use one elementary school as the treatment group and the other as the nonequivalent control group. First, I would administer a baseline reading pretest to students in both schools. Then, I would implement the new reading intervention only in the treatment school. Finally, I would administer a reading posttest to both groups. This design improves upon a posttest-only approach because comparing the pretest-to-posttest changes allows me to see if the treatment group improved significantly more than the control group, helping to account for general maturation or historical events that might affect both schools simultaneously.
Key points:
- Identify two non-randomly assigned groups (treatment and nonequivalent control).
- Administer an initial baseline measurement (pretest) to both groups.
- Introduce the intervention to the treatment group only.
- Administer a posttest to both groups.
- Explain that comparing pretest-to-posttest changes accounts for general maturation or historical effects.
Rubric: A strong response will correctly identify two non-randomly assigned groups, describe the administration of a pretest and posttest to both groups, specify that only one group receives the intervention, and explain that measuring change accounts for general maturation or historical effects.
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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