AP Psych FRQ

Sampling is finding subjects for one’s research. For this particular experiment, the sample would be a group of 50 hyperactive children. To gather these 50 test subjects, I would go to several pediatrician offices and ask to use a total amount of 50 diagnosed hyperactive children for my experiment. With my newfound sampling, I create two groups, one being a control group of 25 children and the other being an experimental group of 25 children. To figure out how these children are put into which group, I use random assignment and randomly pick their names out of a jar. The independent variable, the factor that is being applied/tested and does not change, which in this case is the drug being tested to see if hyperactivity in children will go down, Drug Y. The dependent variable, the factor being measured and manipulated by the independent variable, is the counted number of times that a child fidgets. This would be tested after the experimental group is given Drug Y and all the children are sitting down while someone is reading a story to them. Controls of an experiment and biases can determine or alter the results of an experiment. In the Drug Y experiment, there are many ways that the results can be changed and give less accurate results. For this experiment, not only did I use random sampling, but I would use a double blind experiment where both the test subjects, kids, and experimenter (me) are “blind”. A trustworthy third party would be brought in to read the story, and to give a placebo pill to the control group, whom I do not know either. Not only am I blind to who gets which pill, but the children are unknowing as well. Thus, there is a less chance of bias factored into the experiment.