Hello,
I will do a research with K-12 students (my own students), and it includes a treatment which will last around 3 months. We will see how and whether it will affect their motivation. That's our main objective. I have got the chance to do the research with or without a Control Group, which will not be getting the treatment. By the way I'd like do it with a Control Group, but my only concern is that the students in the Control Group might come to me and ask why they are not getting the treatment the other students in the same grade (but in different classrooms) are getting (The treatment is inclusion of some sort of fun elements in a medium they are supposed to be utilising on a regular basis). Of course, I will share with them all the necessary details and inform them about the process before we start the research, but still I have got this little suspicion in my mind that troubles me for a while.
What would you do if you were in my place, and why?
Thank you so much for your time, in advance.
Yusuf
What is the treatment exactly (is it like a pill)? If so, why not doing a blinded study in which participants don't know if they receive the treatment or a placebo?
Guillaume Marois , this is an educational research. So, the treatment is not something like a pill. It's just the inclusion of some techniques to make them more engaged with the course content. For example, the control group will take their lessons the classical way, while the experiment group will be doing the same but in a different manner.
Hello, Yusuf Polat
This is a continuing ethical dilemma. I recommend a couple of articles that help clarify why it's important to consider the risks and benefits of control groups in the context of a particular intervention study.
The Control Group Dilemma in Clinical Research: Applications for Psychosocial and Behavioral Medicine Trials:
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.482.4005&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Ethical Issues in Psychosocial Interventions Research Involving Controls:
Article Ethical Issues in Psychosocial Interventions Research Involv...
It doesn't seem, from what you have described, that you'd be depriving the non-treatment kids if you have a control group, since they'd continue to experience the kind of learning experiences you've already been providing. If you do make one class a control group, it will be important to consider what else is different about those two classes that might influence your results.
Sign me up to be in the experimental group! Sounds fun.
All the best to you.
Brooke Hallowell
Thank you so much Brooke Hallowell for your time and attention.
Since our research is an educational research, which does not include anything medical, my only concern is whether my students in the Control Group might feel kinda discriminated because they're not getting the treatment like the Experiment Group. On the other hand, there is a big chance that they will not feel that way at all. I'm having such doubts because of the age of my students and the duration of our study. They're between 13-16, and the implementation phase of the study will last a whole semester. My question is actually whether I should consider a pretest-posttest design instead or not.
Thanks again.
Yusuf Polat
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