Consider a study to evaluate the effect on college student grades of dorm room I
ID: 3225334 • Letter: C
Question
Consider a study to evaluate the effect on college student grades of dorm room Internet connections. In a large dorm, half the rooms are randomly wired for high-speed Internet connections (the treatment group) and final course grades are collected for all residents Which of the following pose threats to internal validity and why? (a) Midway through the year, all the male athletes move into a fraternity and drop out of the study. (Their final grades are not observed) (b) Engineering students assigned to the control group put together a local area network so that they can share a private wireless Internet connection that they pay for jointly. (c) The arts majors in the treatment group never learn how to access their Internet accounts (d) The economics majors in the treatment group provide access to their Internet connection to those in the control groups, for a fee.Explanation / Answer
a. This poses a threat to internal validity because some records are not taken. There might me some male atheles who were given high speen internet connection but their grades are not recorded. This can lead to reduction in the sample size and hence can lead to inconsistency in the results.
b. The control group sets together it's own network but when the grades are recorded it is assumed that only the treatment group have access to internet connection and the effect on no internet vs internet is to be seen. Hence this poses a threat to internal validity
c. The arts major in treatment group do not access their internet connection. So some records in the treatment group imply at no internet connection but the study is for the treatment group having internet connection. SO this can lead to wrong conclusions.
d. Some people in the control group are provided internet connection but the study needs to have the treatment group no access to internet connection. Hence their grades may be influenced. This can again lead to wrong conclusions.