Control variables in a true experiment

Interpretations will be different because selecting groups of people who are remarkably similar in most areas, but differ only in age. By doing this, any differences between groups can presumably be attributed to age differences rather than to other variables. 4. What was the dependent variable in this study – the variable that was being predicted? The dependent variable was that the Internet is a popular source of health information. 5. The three primary predictor variables in this study were age, trust in Internet health information, and C] Search challenges.

. Was the measure of trust used in this study a single-indicator or multiple- indicator measure? Trust was being used as a multiple-indicator measure. 7. Was the measure of health information search challenges used in this study an example of a single-indicator or multiple-indicator measure? Health information search challenges were used as a single-indicator measure. 8. Did the authors rely upon any Liker-type agreement scales in this study? Yes they did (4-point scale). 9. The Miller/Bell study is a survey, not an experiment.

Why would it be incorrect to describe this study as an “experiment’? It cannot be described as an experiment because there were no test or trials being conducted to discover something unknown. It is also just a survey because you are examining a variable that you had no control over on its affects versus in a experiment you would manipulate a variable while measuring another variable. 10. The authors statistically controlled for a wide range of variables in their analysis (page 531). Why is it generally unnecessary to have control variables in a true experiment?

Only one variable can be manipulated and tested so it would deem unnecessary. 11. How many statistically significant interactions were found in this study? One and it was the Age x Trust interaction. 12. “External validity” refers to the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other kinds of people, topics, settings, and so forth. Describe two features that reduce the external validity of this study. Using past data from a cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of adults and narrowing down the topic so that it does not generalize to other studies.