A sports scientist investigated whether a new cryotherapy treatment was more effective at reducing post-exercise muscle soreness than a standard active recovery protocol (light cycling).
The researcher decided to use a matched-pairs design. She recruited 20 professional rugby players from a premier league club. Each player was paired with another based on their baseline fitness levels and muscle mass, and then one from each pair was assigned to one of two groups:
All participants rated their muscle soreness on a validated visual analogue scale 24 hours after the workout.
Question:
Explain one strength of using a matched-pairs design rather than a repeated-measures design in this study.
689 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Psychology Scientific processes. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.