1. What are two common reasons to use a factorial design? Describe why Bartholow and Heinz’s word association study on alcohol and thoughts of aggression was a factorial design.
2. Explain why experimenters usually prioritize internal validity over external validity when it is difficult to achieve both.
3. For this assignment, you will choose two EMPIRICAL articles that make an association or causal claim. You will summarize and interrogate these articles using the three claims, four validities framework discussed in class.
Sample solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
Sample Answer
Sample Answer
The Importance of Factorial Designs in Research and the Trade-off between Internal and External Validity
Significance of Factorial Designs
Reasons for Using Factorial Designs:
1. Interaction Effects: Factorial designs allow researchers to examine how different variables interact and influence outcomes. By manipulating multiple factors simultaneously, researchers can uncover complex relationships that may not be evident in single-factor studies.
2. Efficiency: Factorial designs enable the study of multiple factors and their interactions within the same experiment, reducing the number of trials needed compared to conducting separate experiments for each factor. This efficiency enhances the statistical power and precision of the research findings.
Bartholow and Heinz’s Word Association Study:
Bartholow and Heinz’s study on alcohol and thoughts of aggression was a factorial design because it involved manipulating two independent variables: alcohol consumption (alcohol or no alcohol) and exposure to aggressive words (aggressive or non-aggressive words). By examining the main effects of alcohol and word type as well as their interaction effect, the study aimed to investigate how these factors jointly influence thoughts of aggression.
Balancing Internal and External Validity
Priority of Internal Validity over External Validity:
Experimenters often prioritize internal validity over external validity when faced with difficulties in achieving both due to several reasons:
– Control: Emphasizing internal validity allows researchers to establish a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables by minimizing confounding factors or alternative explanations. This control is essential for drawing valid conclusions about the effects of experimental manipulations.
– Precision: Maintaining high internal validity enhances the reliability and accuracy of research findings, increasing confidence in the study’s results. External validity, while important for generalizability, can be compromised if the internal validity of the study is weak.
– Replicability: Studies with strong internal validity are more likely to be replicable, allowing other researchers to verify the findings and build upon the existing knowledge base. Prioritizing internal validity ensures that the research has a solid foundation for further exploration and validation.
Conclusion
In research design, factorial designs offer a powerful tool for examining complex relationships between multiple variables, as exemplified by Bartholow and Heinz’s word association study. While balancing internal and external validity poses a common challenge for experimenters, prioritizing internal validity in such situations can enhance the rigor, reliability, and replicability of research findings. By understanding the trade-offs between internal and external validity and leveraging factorial designs effectively, researchers can advance scientific knowledge and contribute meaningfully to their respective fields.
