Question

Josefina is a college student who wants to know if reading novels for leisure increases self-esteem in college students. She recruits a sample of college students and divides them into two groups: books or comics. Which of the following methods should she use to assign them to groups?

a) Random assignment
b) Self-selection
c) Age-based assignment
d) Alphabetical assignment

Answer 1

Josefina should use random assignment to divide college students into groups for her study on reading and self-esteem, as it provides each participant with an equal chance to be in either group and reduces potential biases.

Step-by-step explanation:

The appropriate method Josefina should use to assign the college students to groups for her study on whether reading novels for leisure increases self-esteem is a) Random assignment.

Random assignment ensures that every participant has an equal chance of being placed into either group, which is foundational in experimental research for reducing selection bias and achieving a balanced representation of participants in each group. This technique enhances the validity of the experiment by controlling for confounding variables and allows for the cause-and-effect relationship between leisure reading and self-esteem to be more accurately assessed.

Other methods like self-selection, age-based assignment, or alphabetical assignment could introduce biases that may confound the results. For instance, self-selection could lead to a group of participants who are already predisposed to reading, thereby affecting their initial levels of self-esteem.