If you were planning to do an experimental design for your topic, which design option would you choose?

Research Methodologies in Health Care

Experimental design
Assignment Content
Please review chapter 7 of the textbook with careful attention to pages 164-171.
Remember your topic from last week’s discussion board posts on qualitative research. You’ll use that topic for this assignment, so please identify the topic at the top of your first page.
In paragraph form, using your own words and the ebook as your only resource, please write 250-500 words:
a- If you were planning to do an experimental design for your topic, which design option would you choose? Be sure to identify and explain the design you chose and why.
b- Next, be as specific as you can about how you would apply that design to your topic.
c- Lastly, for the design that you chose, what potential threats to validity must be guarded against?
APA Format

Course Materials -Shi, Leiyo (2019). Health Services Research Methods, 3rd Edition. Boston, MA:Cengage Learning, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-133-94967-1
Chapter 7.
ANSWER
**Topic:** The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Reducing Binge Eating in Adolescents
**Experimental Design:** Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
**Reason for Choice:** RCTs are the gold standard for experimental research designs because they provide the strongest evidence of causality. In an RCT, participants are randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group receives the intervention being tested, while the control group does not. This randomization helps to ensure that the two groups are similar at the start of the study, except for the fact that one group receives the intervention and the other group does not.
**Application to Topic:**
To conduct an RCT to test the effectiveness of CBT for reducing binge eating in adolescents, I would randomly assign adolescents with binge eating disorder to either an experimental group that receives CBT or a control group that does not receive CBT. I would then follow the participants over time to measure their binge eating frequency and severity.
The experimental group would receive CBT in a group or individual format. The CBT would be tailored to the specific needs of adolescents with binge eating disorder. The CBT would focus on helping adolescents to identify and challenge their binge eating triggers, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and improve their body image.
The control group would not receive any specific intervention for binge eating disorder. However, they would still receive standard care from their health care providers.
**Potential Threats to Validity:**
One potential threat to validity in this study would be attrition. Attrition is the loss of participants from the study over time. Attrition can be a problem in RCTs because it can lead to a difference between the experimental and control groups at the end of the study. To reduce attrition, I would make sure to provide participants with support and encouragement to stay in the study.
Another potential threat to validity would be contamination. Contamination occurs when participants in the control group are exposed to the intervention being tested. This can happen if participants in the control group hear about the intervention from their friends or family members who are participating in the experimental group. To reduce contamination, I would make sure to keep the two groups separate from each other.
Finally, another potential threat to validity would be selection bias. Selection bias occurs when participants are not randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. This can happen if participants are allowed to choose which group they want to be in. To reduce selection bias, I would randomly assign participants to the experimental and control groups.
**Conclusion:**
An RCT is the best experimental design for testing the effectiveness of CBT for reducing binge eating in adolescents. This design would provide the strongest evidence of causality. However, there are some potential threats to validity that must be guarded against, such as attrition, contamination, and selection bias.