1refers to changes that occur over time in research participants.
maturation
2Two major types of maturation threats are particularly common in health-care research:
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- changes that occur as a part of the natural growth process
- changes that occur as a result of the natural healing process
3how can you protect against maturation threats
- use of a control group
- Another is outcome scores that are similar at baseline for the control and intervention groups; this makes interpretations of changes from pretest to posttest straightforward.
- random assignment and matching
- keeping the time between pretest and postest short
4involves positive or negative changes in the outcome or dependent variable due to events that occur between the pretest and posttest, such as a participant receiving an unanticipated treatment or exposure to an activity that affects the study outcome (a.k.a., alternative treatment threat).
history threat
5how do you protect against history threats
- control group, as long as both groups were eposed to the historical event
- shorter time between pretest and postest
- put protections in place to reduce exposure to alternative treatments
- include questionnaires or observations
6refers to a phenomenon in which extreme scores are likely to move toward the average when a second measurement is taken; extremely high scores will become lower, and extremely low scores will become higher.
regression to the mean
7how do you protect against regression to the mean
- control group
- exclude outliers
8- occur when changes in test performance are a result of the testing experience itself.
- is present when an earlier experience somehow affects a later testing experience
testing effect
9occur when exposure to the pretest allows the individual to perform better on the posttest.
practice effects
10- a change in performance occurs based on the order in which the tests are presented.
- In a long testing session, there may be a decline in performance due to fatigue.
order effects
11how can you protect against testing threats
- strong test-retest reliability
- standardization, scripts, and training for the tester
- time sampling
- control groups
12in which individuals receive a prompt, but the prompt is unexpected and random, and the individual or an instrument records what the person is doing at that point in time.
time sampling
13- occur when a measure itself or the individual administering the measure is unreliable or invalid.
- are a common problem in research and even a well-designed study is useless if the instrument used poses a threat to validity
instrumentation threats
14When using mechanical or electronic measures, the ______, _______, and _______ of the instruments can affect outcomes.
quality, condition and calibration
15______________ can also play a role in instrumentation threats.
Human error
16how can you protect against instrumentation threats
- proper selection of measures
- training of testers
- maintenance and calibration of instruments
17is introduced when the research process itself affects the outcomes of the study and can be introduced by the person(s) providing the intervention.
experimenter bias
18occurs when the researcher sets up different expectations for the intervention and control groups.
Rosenthal effect/Pygmalion effect
19the intervention leaders for the control group feel compelled to work harder to compensate for the control group not receiving the intervention.
compensatory equilization of treatments
20occurs if the control group feels discouraged for not receiving the intervention and may not try as hard or give up.
compensatory demoralization