Design Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
The greatest strength of this design is its ability to control for extraneous variables, or any variables which may have an effect on the outcome that cannot be accounted for in the research. By using a randomized control trial (RCT), researchers can ensure that any differences between groups are due to their independent variable, rather than other influences. This reduces the likelihood of spurious results and allows researchers to draw more accurate conclusions from their findings. Additionally, RCTs produce reliable data since they involve random assignment of subjects into either experimental or control conditions; this means that there is no bias in terms of who is assigned to each group. Finally, RCTs can also be used to assess long-term effects associated with interventions since they involve follow-up measures over extended periods of time.
The strengths and weaknesses of the design and the threats to internal and external validity
Weaknesses:
One limitation of randomized controlled trials is that it can be difficult to recruit participants for such studies because individuals often feel uncomfortable about being randomly assigned into different treatment conditions—especially if one condition has potential risks involved. Additionally, these types of studies require rigorous protocols that must be followed closely by both participants and those conducting the study; failure to do so could potentially result in inaccurate results due to inconsistent implementation across different groups or participants refusing certain treatments out of fear or discomfort. Lastly, RCTs are costly as they require extensive resources for recruiting and managing large sample sizes as well as keeping track of participant progress over time through follow-up testing and measurements.
Threats To Internal And External Validity
Internal validity threats: Confounding variables are a primary threat when it comes to internal validity since these can lead researchers astray by influencing outcomes without being taken into account during data analysis (Haas et al., 2019). For example, if two groups receiving different treatments were also given varying amounts of encouragement along with those treatments then any changes seen in them may not necessarily reflect the effectiveness/ineffectiveness related directly to those treatments alone—making it difficult for researchers to confidently attribute observed changes solely due specific treatment conditions administered throughout the study period (Hansen & Phillips 2009). Moreover, other factors like selection bias can further serve as a detriment towards properly attributing observed outcomes within an experiment since unrepresentative samples could yield invalid results compared with what would occur among general population preferences toward similar interventions under similar circumstances (Szymanski & Thomas 2010).
External validity threats: Wider generalizability is limited within experiments because external validity threats make it hard for researcher’s results obtained from smaller samples sizes or specific contexts applied during testing periods from being extrapolated onto wider populations at large; this means any information gained from conducting such experiments should remain confined within boundaries strictly related only towards what was studied within said tests themselves without ever making assumptions beyond immediate sample constraints imposed upon them (Brooke-Weiss et al., 2018). As an additional issue regarding external validation reliability concerns how ecological validity—the extent which laboratory based environments resemble real world settings—is lost when designing experiments where artificial scenes constructed specificallyfor purposes related towards scientific inquiry replace naturalistic ones typically found outside laboratories wherein meaningful interactions typically take place; such settings lack many features commonly associated with everyday living thereby leading inaccuracy whenever predictions attempted based off laboratory testings get transferred elsewhere lacking simulation similarities specified beforehand