What Is Between Subjects vs Within Subjects In Behavioral Science?

Between subjects and within subjects are two experimental research designs used in psychology and other fields.

Between subjects design involves randomly assigning participants to different groups or conditions, with each participant only experiencing one group or condition. For example, in a study comparing the effectiveness of two treatments for depression, participants would be randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups and would only receive one treatment.

Within subjects design, on the other hand, involves exposing each participant to all conditions or treatments being tested. For example, in a study comparing two different study methods, each participant would be exposed to both study methods and their performance would be compared between the two.

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