Why is it important to make sure that different participant groups are roughly equivalent in terms of personal characteristics (e.g. ,age,gender)before any independent variable is introduced?
A)It is important to treat all research participants equally so that they feel that they are not being manipulated.
B)Research ethics forbid any experiment to take place when the participant groups are fundamentally different from each other.
C)It is important so that no major differences between the groups inadvertently bias the results of the experiment.
D)Research ethics required all participants in a sample to have the same personal characteristics.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If there are any major differences between participant groups, these differences may affect the results of the experiment, making it difficult to determine whether the independent variable caused the changes observed or whether it was due to differences in the participant groups. By ensuring that participant groups are roughly equivalent in terms of personal characteristics, researchers can control for any variables that may affect the results, increasing the internal validity of the study. It is not necessarily required by research ethics to have all participants in a sample to have the same personal characteristics, and while treating all research participants equally is important, it is not the main reason for ensuring roughly equivalent participant groups.

Why Is It Important to Make Sure That Different Participant