Which of the following is NOT an advantage of Independent Groups Design?

• A. Reduces demand characteristics.
• B. Quick to administer.
• C. Lots of participants are required.
• D. Could be used for all tests.

Answer: (C)

Independent groups design means different participants are used in each condition, so no one participant is tested under more than one level of the IV. This eliminates order and carryover effects and, with random assignment, helps ensure that individual differences don’t systematically bias the results. A key trade-off is that you need more participants overall to achieve the same level of statistical power, since each condition requires its own sample. That’s why the statement about needing lots of participants is not an advantage. The other points align with the typical benefits of this design: avoiding order effects and allowing data collection to proceed in parallel can make the design more efficient in practice.