Running head: FINAL PROJECT – WEEK 3

Final Project – Week 3

Roberta Simpkin

PSY310 UI – Social Psychology

Argosy University

Dr. Natasha Vannoy

Week 3: Final Project

M3:A2

An environmental organization recently completes filming a pro-recycling public service announcement. They want you to join their team as a volunteer to design a test for the message's persuasive power.

How would you recruit participants from the public to take part in this research?

I would present the information in a straightforward way rather than in an overly people-pleasing way. This way I would be looked at by the public as trustworthy. We tend to trust people when they do not seem to be trying too hard to win us over. When people are straightforward, they seem to have our best interests at heart because they seem to convey what we really need to know — the facts. I would ask them to join me as a proactive team member in designing testing this most important message regarding the benefits of recycling (Argosy University, 2011).

What methods would you use to assign the participants to either the experimental group or the control group?

I would chose for the experimental group those individuals who demonstrated were in favor of “freedom of expression” in art and other fields that allowed them to use their talents freely. For the control group, I would chose those individuals that were more conservative in nature when it comes to social issues and who are not pressured by others in their decisions (Argosy University, 2011). The experimental group is the group receiving the treatment, while the control group does not receive the treatment and is compared to the experimental group (Argosy University, 2011).

What would the participants in the control group do?

In the control group, those individuals would be in charge of directing all tasks and ideas for the designing and testing this most important message regarding the benefits of recycling (Argosy University, 2011).

What are the independent and dependent variables for the experimental group?

The independent variable is what the researcher manipulates and the dependent variable is what is measured for the experimental group (Argosy University, 2011).

How would you measure the persuasiveness of the message?

Interactive advertising highlights the role of the consumer in determining the effects and effectiveness of advertising. The role of the consumer has important implications

for how the effects and effectiveness of advertising are measured and how various measures are interpreted (Argosy University, 2011).

Would you use a self-reported survey measure or an unobtrusive behavioral measure? Explain your rationale.

I would use unobtrusive behavioral measures such as archival data because it is an important alternative to direct observation. Unobtrusive measures can be an important alternative to more intrusive methodologies, thus permitting research on important issues with minimal risk to the participants (Argosy University, 2011).

What are the advantages and disadvantages of self-reported measures in this type of study?

Self-reported measures has many advantages, but they also have specific disadvantages due to the way that subjects generally behave. Self-reported measures may be exaggerated, respondents may be too embarrassed to reveal private details whereas this may affect the results. Subjects may also forget pertinent details. It is also possible for results to be biased if there are systematic differences between people who respond and people who do not (Argosy University, 2011).

What are the advantages and disadvantages of nonreactive behavioral measures in this type of study? In what ways could a pretest interfere with your results?

The advantage is the participant reaction to the process of data collection that does not interfere with the response. When these methods are used, the participant's reaction to the process influences his or her responses. The disadvantage is when people know that they are being observed or that their responses are being counted, they do not always respond accurately or honestly. A pretest may not be depicted honestly and interfere with the results (Argosy University, 2011).

Why would you have stronger confidence in your results if you had 200 participants as opposed to only 10?

I think with 200, I would get a broader picture from varied cultures and backgrounds of individuals who all had different personalities, education, etc.

Reference:

Argosy University. (2011). PSY310 UI: Social Psychology, Module 3, Online Lecture, Retrieved from: http://myeclassonline.com