Which design would create independent samples?

Which design would create independent samples?

• A. Between subjects
• B. Matched pairs
• C. Within-subjects
• D. Repeated measures

Answer: (A)

Independence of samples is achieved when different participants appear in each condition. A between-subjects design assigns separate participants to each group, so the data in one group come from different people than the data in the other group, making the samples independent. In contrast, within-subjects (repeated measures) designs have the same participants across all conditions, creating dependent observations because the measurements are linked within the same individuals. Matched pairs involves pairing participants on a variable and then assigning each member of a pair to different conditions; while this controls for the matched variable, the two observations within each pair remain related, so they’re not completely independent. Therefore, the design that yields independent samples is the between-subjects approach.

Independence of samples is achieved when different participants appear in each condition. A between-subjects design assigns separate participants to each group, so the data in one group come from different people than the data in the other group, making the samples independent. In contrast, within-subjects (repeated measures) designs have the same participants across all conditions, creating dependent observations because the measurements are linked within the same individuals. Matched pairs involves pairing participants on a variable and then assigning each member of a pair to different conditions; while this controls for the matched variable, the two observations within each pair remain related, so they’re not completely independent. Therefore, the design that yields independent samples is the between-subjects approach.