1st Assignment
Consider the following scenario: You have been approached by a pharmaceutical company that has developed a new drug that is supposed to be effective in the treatment of schizophrenia. Before mass producing the drug they want to be sure that it is more effective than the drug they are currently producing. They have offered you an opportunity to pitch your design of a research study to determine the effectiveness of the new drug compared with the old one. The company will hire the person with the most effective research design.
In your posting/pitch include the following:
Compare and contrast the characteristics of non-experimental (descriptive and correlational) and experimental research designs.
Specify whether the aim of the implied research question is to describe, predict, or explain.
Choose a research design to evaluate the relative effectiveness of the two drugs.
Provide a brief overview of the study you would design.
Your post should be 350 to 400 words.
2nd Assignment
Based on the study you designed in the Research Design discussion, apply the scientific method by specifying the five steps of hypothesis testing for your study.
Step 1: State the hypothesis.
Step 2: Collect the data - For the purpose of this discussion, you will state how you would collect the data.
Step 3: Calculate statistics - For the purpose of this discussion, you will indicate the statistical analysis technique(s) you would use.
Step 4: Compare to a critical value - For the purpose of this discussion, you will indicate where you would set the alpha value and why. Note:
This step is hypothetical, as you are not actually conducting a statistical analysis. Consequently, you will choose if the results of your hypothetical analysis are above or below the critical value.
Step 5: Make a decision - For the purpose of this discussion, you will create a conclusion based on the hypothetical results from Step 4. Be sure to include a recommendation on the effectiveness of the new drug based on the results.
Utilize a minimum of two peer-reviewed sources that were published within the last 10 years and are documented in APA style.