Lahey Benjamin B, D'Onofrio Brian M
University of Chicago.
Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2010 Oct;19(5):319-323. doi: 10.1177/0963721410383977.
Psychologists in both basic and applied fields are keenly interested in the environmental influences that shape our lives. Therefore, researchers test causal hypotheses to construct models of environmental influences that can withstand attempts at refutation. Randomized experiments provide the strongest tests of causal hypotheses, but are not always feasible and their assumptions cannot always be met. In such cases, a number of quasi-experimental research designs can be used to substantially reduce confounding in tests of causal hypotheses. Sibling-comparison designs provide robust quasi-experimental tests of causal environmental hypotheses, but they are underused in psychology in spite of their power, feasibility, and convenience.
基础领域和应用领域的心理学家都对塑造我们生活的环境影响有着浓厚兴趣。因此，研究人员会检验因果假设，以构建能够经受反驳尝试的环境影响模型。随机实验能对因果假设进行最强有力的检验，但并不总是可行，其假设也并非总能得到满足。在这种情况下，可以使用一些准实验研究设计来大幅减少因果假设检验中的混杂因素。兄弟姐妹比较设计为准实验性环境因果假设提供了有力检验，但尽管其具有效力、可行性和便利性，在心理学中却未得到充分利用。
