California State University San Marcos Conducting a Study Experiment Paper

The Study Environment

This project will not only allow you to practice with a quasi-experimental method, but it will also help improve study skills.

1. Select something to read that is over 25 pages and has relatively few pictures or diagrams or something that has pictures and diagrams scattered fairly evenly throughout.
2. Get comfortably seated in a quiet room where you can control all noise and distractions and open the reading material to the first page.
3. Note the time as exactly as possible (if possible down to the seconds) or start a stopwatch.
4. Read three complete pages.
5. Take note of the exact time (or time passed) to complete three pages.
6. Turn on some music (or put on some headphones with music).
7. Repeat Steps 3 through 5.
8. Turn off the music so the room is quiet again.
9. Repeat Steps 3 through 5.

10. Repeat Steps 6 through 9.

11. Turn on the television or talk radio—anything in which conversation will be heard.

12. Repeat Steps 3 through 5.

13. Repeat Steps 11 and 12.

14. When you have completed all sessions (no noise, music, no noise, music, no noise, talk, no noise, talk), calculate the average time taken to read three pages across categories (no noise, music, and talk).

15. When you have finished, write a brief statement in which you answer the following questions: Was there a difference in how long it took you to read three pages? What sort of quasi-experimental design is this? What are some potential sources of internal invalidity for this project?

When you have finished the study habits experiment, write a brief statement in which you answer the following questions: Was there a difference in how long it took you to read three pages? What sort of quasi-experimental design is this? What are some potential sources of internal invalidity for this project?