A social psychologist plans to investigate factors behind anti-Semitism. He believes that people who have had authoritarian parents and authoritarian upbringing tend to be anti-Semitic. Would a research project designed to test this hypothesis be experimental or ex post facto? Why?

 The research project designed to test the hypothesis that "people who have had authoritarian parents and authoritarian upbringing tend to be anti-Semitic" would be classified as an ex post facto research design, not an experimental one.

Reason: Lack of Manipulation of the Independent Variable

1. Nature of the Independent Variable:

·         The variable "authoritarian upbringing" is a past condition that has already occurred and cannot be manipulated by the researcher for ethical and practical reasons.

·         Researchers cannot assign children to authoritarian or non-authoritarian parents in an experimental setting.

2. No Random Assignment:

·         Participants cannot be randomly assigned to different types of upbringing, which is a core requirement for true experimental research.

·         Instead, participants are likely to be classified based on their reported upbringing, and then their attitudes (e.g., anti-Semitism) will be measured and compared.

Why It’s Ex Post Facto:

Feature

Ex Post Facto Research

Experimental Research

Manipulation of Variables

No — relies on naturally occurring or past conditions

Yes — independent variable is deliberately manipulated

Random Assignment

No

Yes

Example Fit

Classifying individuals based on upbringing and measuring current attitudes

Assigning participants to different parenting styles and observing resulting attitudes (not ethical or feasible)

Conclusion:

This study is an ex post facto design because it:

·         Investigates a naturally occurring condition (upbringing),

·         Cannot manipulate the independent variable (parenting style),

·         Observes and compares attitudes after the fact.

It may use surveys, interviews, or psychometric scales to measure both past experiences and current levels of anti-Semitism, and then apply statistical analysis to test the stated hypothesis.

 

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