Question

Hypothesis: Contagious yawning is socially connected and is linked to social contextual factors. Which one of these would the hypothesis fall under?

Ex Post Facto: One type of person is different from another type of person in terms of a particular variable that is not manipulated by a researcher.

Example: People who have earned a bachelor’s degree are different from people who have not earned a bachelor’s degree in terms of average salary.

Experimental: A particular treatment causes people to be different in terms of a particular variable.

Example: Taking an exam in a cold classroom causes students to get lower exam grades.

Correlational: A particular characteristic tends to be related to another particular characteristic.

Example: People with a high level of anxiety tend to have more conservative views about social issues.

Answer 1

This hypothesis will fall under the Ex-Post Facto one.

Ex Post Facto: One type of person is different from another type of person in terms of a particular variable that is not manipulated by a researcher.

Since here the contagious yawing can differ among people but it is actually linked to a particular variable which is here social contextual factors. This cannot be manipulated by a researcher, here yawning cannot be manipulated. This is also the most important evidence that this does not fall under experimental since there the researcher can manipulate either or more than one variable present to test the hypothesis.