A psychologist was looking for the cause of failure among school children. She took a group of former students who had flunked out and a group of students who had received good grades in Chemistry. She gave both groups a self-esteem test and found that the group that flunked out scored lower on the test than did the group that received good grades. She concluded that low self-esteem is one of the causes of failure in Chemistry and suggested further that a person with low self-esteem probably expects to fail and exhibits defeatist behavior in class, which eventually leads to failure.

Question

A psychologist was looking for the cause of failure among school children. She took a group of former students who had flunked out and a group of students who had received good grades in Chemistry. She gave both groups a self-esteem test and found that the group that flunked out scored lower on the test than did the group that received good grades. She concluded that low self-esteem is one of the causes of failure in Chemistry and suggested further that a person with low self-esteem probably expects to fail and exhibits defeatist behavior in class, which eventually leads to failure.

1) Identify the Independent variables

2) Identify the dependent variable

3) Identify the experimental error

Answer 1

It is complicated. However, indepvariable: sellf esteem score, dependent var: grade in chem, experimential error...innate variance on the self esteem score, and the variance in chem scores.

Answer 2

1) The independent variable in this study is the self-esteem test. The psychologist administered the test to both groups of students and measured their scores.

2) The dependent variable in this study is the academic performance or grades in Chemistry. The psychologist compared the grades obtained by the two groups of students, with one group consisting of former students who had flunked out and the other group consisting of students who had received good grades.

3) The experimental error refers to any factors that may have influenced the results of the study, other than the independent variable being tested. In this case, some potential experimental errors could include:

- Individual differences: Although the psychologist compared two groups of students, there may still be individual differences within each group that could impact their performance. Factors such as prior knowledge, study habits, or motivation could influence the results.
- Sample selection bias: The psychologist selected a specific group of former students who had flunked out and a group of students who had received good grades. The results may not be representative of the entire population of school children and may not accurately reflect the relationship between self-esteem and academic performance for all children.
- Test reliability or validity: The self-esteem test itself could have limitations. It's important to ensure that the test used is reliable and valid in measuring self-esteem accurately. If the test is not reliable or valid, it could introduce errors into the study's findings.
- Other factors: There may be other factors, not accounted for by the study, that could contribute to a student's academic performance. For example, home environment, teacher quality, or peer interactions could also have an impact on a student's success or failure in Chemistry. Failing to consider these factors could introduce errors in the study's conclusion.