There are 5 situations below. Can someone please match the situations up with the threat. These would be in a quasi-experimental design. The threats are history, maturation, mortality, testing, and instrumentation threat. THANK YOU!
A. Kindergarten students who were identified as having difficulty staying on-task were placed in a special class to avoid disrupting their more attentive peers. The special class included an intervention to improve attention span. After 6 months, students in the special class were performing no differently on measures of attention than their peers.
B. The local university starts a freshman orientation program to reduce binge-drinking. During their first semester, the campus police also begin ticketing and fining under-age students who are caught intoxicated while on campus.
C. A literacy intervention for adolescents is implemented in a local school district. The effectiveness of the program is assessed using a oral reading fluency test, which is administered by each student's homeroom teacher.
D. An intervention intended to improve performance on the state graduation test began with 150 participants who had failed the exam on the first try. Only 75 finished. The 75 finishers performed better on their second try on the exam.
E. The state correctional institution implements a Web-based counseling program for inmates with substance abuse problems. To measure whether the program is effective, the Adult Substance Use Survey is administered to the inmates on a bi-weekly basis. Over time, the inmates show a significant decrease in their survey scores.
To match the situations up with the threats in a quasi-experimental design, we need to analyze each situation and identify the potential threats present. Here's how you can do it:
A. In this situation, the special class and intervention were implemented to improve attention span. The threat that could be present here is maturation. Maturation refers to the natural developmental changes that occur over time, which could affect the students' attention span regardless of the intervention.
B. In this situation, the orientation program and the enforcement of underage drinking fines are implemented to reduce binge-drinking. The potential threat here is history. History refers to external events or factors that might occur during the study, which could influence the students' drinking behaviors. The implementation of the orientation program and the enforcement of fines could be considered historical events.
C. In this situation, a literacy intervention program is implemented, and the effectiveness is assessed through an oral reading fluency test administered by the homeroom teachers. The threat that could be present here is testing. Testing refers to the effect of previous exposure to the same or similar measures, which could influence the students' performance on the reading fluency test.
D. In this situation, an intervention is implemented to improve performance on the state graduation test. However, there is a dropout rate, and only 75 out of the initial 150 participants finish the intervention. The threat that could be present here is mortality. Mortality refers to the differential dropout or attrition rates among participants, which could introduce bias in the results. It is important to consider whether the 75 finishers are representative of the initial group of participants.
E. In this situation, a web-based counseling program is implemented for inmates with substance abuse problems. The effectiveness is measured using the Adult Substance Use Survey administered on a bi-weekly basis. The potential threat here is instrumentation. Instrumentation refers to changes in the measurement procedures or instruments used, which could influence the inmates' responses on the substance use survey over time.
By considering the characteristics of each situation and the potential threats, you can match the situations up with the relevant threats in a quasi-experimental design.