What is an experiment?

[Karl L. Wuensch]

Interesting reading, thanks.  Figures did not load, but that is only a minor irritation.   I have always thought of an "experiment" in terms of what I believe to be its meaning in "everyday language" -- that is, to experiment is to try something new and see what happens.  This is, I believe, essentially the meaning of the Latin root "experiri," and is essentially the same as saying you manipulate one variable and observe any changes in other variables.   Karl W. ----- Original Message ----- From: Christopher D. Green To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 10:14 PM Subject: Re: Independent and Dependent Variables Winston, Andrew S. and Blais, Daniel J. (1996) What counts as an experiment?: A transdisciplinary analysis of textbooks, 1930-1970. American Journal of Psychology 109(4):599-616. wherein it turns out that the things we (psychologists) typically teach our students counts as a "true" experiment are (also) rather idiosyncratic to psychology and relatively recent in origin. You can find this article on-line at: http://htpprints.yorku.ca/archive/00000034/ --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]