Reference no: EM133348116

Case: Suppose a researcher is interested in studying the effects of exposure to the impacts of civil war on perceptions of the legitimacy of government decisions in developing countries. His theory is that being exposed to civil war makes individuals more willing to cede power to governments and respect their decisions if doing so is seen as a necessary part of enabling governments to prevent the outbreak of civil wars. The researcher plans to recruit 100 participants for a lab experiment in the sovereign nation of Norfolkistan, a poor country where most of the population lives below the poverty line of $1.90/day. He intends to provide each participant with $100 USD to compensate for his or her participation in the study. Next, the researcher plans on randomly selecting 50 participants to receive the "treatment." The treatment group will watch a short film showing actual footage from a civil conflict that the country experienced during the 1980s. Those in the control group will watch an excerpt of an animated children's movie. All study participants will then participate in a brief survey that includes the following government legitimacy question, "Please indicate the extent to which you agree with the following statement: Representatives of my government should have the authority to make and enforce decisions, even if they sometimes make mistakes." The response options for this question are Not at all; Somewhat agree; and Fully agree. At the conclusion of the study, the researcher plans to compare responses to the government legitimacy question across the treatment and control groups and present his research at a prestigious conference in the United States. The findings will not be translated into the native language of the study participants.

Question: Briefly critique this research design, paying special attention to issues of causality, measurement, validity, and ethics.