What are the steps involved in carrying out an experiment?

Steps involved in carrying out an experiment are:-

1. Choice of variable –
a) Investigative questions can be prepared by the researcher depending on the nature of the problem.
b) Hypothesis should be operationalised.
c) Variables are to be selected by the researcher.
d) Number of the variables to be tested is to be decided.

2. Levels of treatment –
a) Refer to the differences or the distinctions made by the researcher between the different aspects of the treatment conditions.
b) Levels assigned to an independent variable should be based on the simplicity.

3. Experimental environment –
a) Environmental control constantly holds the physical environment of the experiment.
b) The researcher must have the complete knowledge about the various extraneous variables.
c) These extraneous variables can exist in the factors like age, gender, race etc.
d) Their presence can have a great affect on the dependent variables.

4. Choice of the Experimental Design –
a) Are very unique in nature compared to the other research designs.
b) Provide positional as well as the statistical plans.
c) Helps in designating the relationship between the experimental treatments and the experimenter’s observations.
d) Helps in providing the strength to the generalization of the results beyond the experimental settings.

5. Subjects allocation –
a) The selected subjects should represent the population to which the researcher has to generalize.
b) Firstly a sample frame is made and then the subjects for the experiment to the groups are assigned – Randomization method is used for this purpose.
c) Experimental subjects act as a self – selecting sample as mostly the size of the sampling frame is small.

6. Tests, Pilot tests –
a) Pilot testing reveals the errors in the design.
b) Pre – testing helps in carrying out the refinement before the final test.
c) Scripts can be revised during this step.

7. Analysis –
a) By carrying proper and accurate planning and the pre – testing, the data needed for the experiment can be given an order and structure.
b) These structures are usually very uncommon to the surveys.
c) The various options used by the researchers to measure and instrument are observational techniques, coding schemes, paper and pencil teats, self – report instruments with the open or the closed questions etc.