1) Hypothesis
Children who live with a step parent are more likely to be abused relative to children who live with their biological parents. The independent variable is step parents. The dependent variable is child abuse. The unit of analysis is children.
2) Theory
The Sociobiology or Evolutionary Theory is primarily based on the idea that parents will display aggressive acts toward children who are not biologically their own. It theorizes that the risk of abuse is higher when there is a lack of bonding between the parent and the child (Wallace & Roberson, 2011). Another research study on the Evolutionary Theory argues that if step parents have lesser investments in their nonbiological children they will run a higher risk of physically abusing …show more content…
Instead the best option is to do a quasi-experiment in which a nonequivalent- group design will be used. With the exception of randomization, the non-equivalent group design is very similar to the classical experiment. To reduce threats to internal validity a control group very similar to the experimental group will be closely assigned. The experimental group will be the children who will be living with a step parent. The control group will be the group where the children live with their biological parents. Lastly, the stimulus is identified as the step parent who will only be having an effect on the experimental group (children living with step …show more content…
However, there will be limitations that can affect the threats to internal validity. An example of such threat is maturation, because the subjects will be observed over a time period it can be possible that the subjects naturally change over time, and that change can be completely unrelated to the independent variable. In this specific study the children will mature over time and have different feelings and reactions to how a step parent may be treating them. The threat of testing can also infect the experiment results. The subject’s knowledge of testing and retesting can influence behavior results. The step parents can therefore behave differently knowing that a posttest survey will be conducted.
5) Data Collection
Both the data collected from the independent and dependent variable will be from surveys. There will be surveys collected from pretest and surveys collected from posttest. The data collected will aid in the conclusion of the experiment. It’ll show the comparison of the results in each survey.
A survey is a good idea for this research because it is a sensitive topic to discuss and if there is anonymity the likelihood of the subject being truthful increases. The limitation is that in this type of research study the crime of child abuse goes underreported. Essentially the data
Children who live with a step parent are more likely to be abused relative to children who live with their biological parents. The independent variable is step parents. The dependent variable is child abuse. The unit of analysis is children.
2) Theory
The Sociobiology or Evolutionary Theory is primarily based on the idea that parents will display aggressive acts toward children who are not biologically their own. It theorizes that the risk of abuse is higher when there is a lack of bonding between the parent and the child (Wallace & Roberson, 2011). Another research study on the Evolutionary Theory argues that if step parents have lesser investments in their nonbiological children they will run a higher risk of physically abusing …show more content…
Instead the best option is to do a quasi-experiment in which a nonequivalent- group design will be used. With the exception of randomization, the non-equivalent group design is very similar to the classical experiment. To reduce threats to internal validity a control group very similar to the experimental group will be closely assigned. The experimental group will be the children who will be living with a step parent. The control group will be the group where the children live with their biological parents. Lastly, the stimulus is identified as the step parent who will only be having an effect on the experimental group (children living with step …show more content…
However, there will be limitations that can affect the threats to internal validity. An example of such threat is maturation, because the subjects will be observed over a time period it can be possible that the subjects naturally change over time, and that change can be completely unrelated to the independent variable. In this specific study the children will mature over time and have different feelings and reactions to how a step parent may be treating them. The threat of testing can also infect the experiment results. The subject’s knowledge of testing and retesting can influence behavior results. The step parents can therefore behave differently knowing that a posttest survey will be conducted.
5) Data Collection
Both the data collected from the independent and dependent variable will be from surveys. There will be surveys collected from pretest and surveys collected from posttest. The data collected will aid in the conclusion of the experiment. It’ll show the comparison of the results in each survey.
A survey is a good idea for this research because it is a sensitive topic to discuss and if there is anonymity the likelihood of the subject being truthful increases. The limitation is that in this type of research study the crime of child abuse goes underreported. Essentially the data