The researcher concluded that the experiment was a success. The covert thoughts caused a marked decrease in nail biting. Please write down your answer on a piece of paper. Make up two additional examples of bad designs so that all three types of bad designs mentioned in the text are covered. Null effects are particularly likely to happen to novice researchers.
Study is done but none of the effects are statistically significant.
This is a great disappointment, but it is more common than a novice researcher getting highly significant findings. This is so much error of measurement that any effects of the independent variable are obscured. As a result the effects of the IV may be obscured, especially when it is a weak variable. Just because a variable is a weak one does not mean that it is unworthy of study. The societal importance of certain weak variables may be great.