Factorial Design and Analysis for Psychological Research Methodology and Statistics Course

Running head: ASSIGNMENT: FACTORIAL DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
Assignment: Factorial Design and Analysis
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1ASSIGNMENT: FACTORIAL DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Method.............................................................................................................................................2
Results..............................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................6
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................8

2ASSIGNMENT: FACTORIAL DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
Method
The study was conducted on 60 3rd year students, enrolled in the “Psychological research
methodology and statistics” course of the University of Queensland (UQ). 27% of the
participants were male, 73% were female with average age of all the participants was 20.34 years
with a standard deviation 1.47 units. The participants volunteered their participation in the study
by answering anonymously a questionnaire about plagiarism in their tutor groups.
The hypothesis under study has two parts. Whether group membership and disliking of
the one under trail by the juror would independently and in conjunction have significant effect on
their verdict or not. Due to the nature of the relevant data, the study had simulated the data by
designing a factorial experimental design with two treatment factors. Six scenarios or treatment
combinations were designed and applied randomly to respondents and their verdict as well as
perceptions of dis-likeability were recorded. The situations consisted of a female student having
been accused of plagiarism and asked to appear before a tribunal at the UQ, who had initially
denied the charges but later confessed to have unintentionally have committed the offense. The
questionnaires contained descriptions of the traits of the accused student, whether she is likeable
or not and whether she was from UQ or a transfer from Griffith University. The perceptions
about the accused’s dis-likeability was defined by a variable with three levels, namely, high,
neutral and low. There rating of the level of punishment the offender deserved was then recorded
and analysed.
The objective was to investigate how group membership and perceived dis-likeability
independently and in conjunction affects a jury’s decision over a trial. The scenarios were
manipulated to simulate the data, manipulating group membership and the emotional response