what would the dependent and independent variable and control and experimental group be in this problem:

Question

John is intrigued by the relationship between frustration and aggression. He proposes to study whether socioeconomic status is a factor in how drivers express their aggression when they are frustrated. John decides to employ a high status car (Mercedes) and a low status car (pinto) as the stimuli in a "field" experiment on the roads near his house during a sunny April afternoon. He plans to drive the high status car from 1-3 pm and the low status car from 3-5 pm. During these periods he will linger when he has to stop for red lights and will move forward only when the driver behind him honks. His research assistant, riding on the passenger side, will time how long it takes the driver of the car behind the experimental car to honk. John believes that drivers will take longer to honk when they are behind the Mercedes than when they are behind the pinto. He thinks frustrated people will suppress their frustration and aggression when the person causing the frustration is of high socioeconomic status.

Answer 1

Please look at "Life Science" posted just before yours for some ideas.

Answer 2

I know what the definitions are, but there is so much going on in the problem that I've gotten confused-
dv- a person's frustration and aggression?, iv-socioeconomic status?
experimental group- the two types of cars? no control group?

Answer 3

Right. The IV is the status of the car (leading to the assumption of higher status of the driver, which may or may not be true.), while the honking (DV) is one expression of aggression/frustration.

Depending on how you state your experimental hypothesis, either group can be the experimental group. The control group gives a comparison.

However, you experimental design has one flaw. Both groups should have essentially the same conditions, except for the IV, so any differences in the DV can be attributed only to the IV.

The time of day is an extraneous variable that might effect your DV. Traffic is different at different times of day. If the traffic is much slower during a particular time period, people will be more frustrated and therefore more likely to honk at a slow-starting car. Both cars should be driven at the same time period and probably at the same day of the week. (Weekend traffic is less likely to be jammed.)

I hope this helps a little more. Thanks for asking.

Answer 4

Thank you so much!!!!!!

Answer 5

I have a question. Did john measure what he intended to measure in this why r why not?

Answer 6

What is the research design used in this study?
How did the researcher operationalize socioeconomic status?
How did the researcher operationalize frustration?
Identify the researcher’s hypothesis.
Identify the results of the study.