The Effects of Treatment Diffusion on Educational Experimental Designs

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how powerful the treatment diffusion effect is on experimental designs in education within the Nigerian context. The participants were 108 secondary school students. The treatment group watched a documentary about the role of women in bringing peace during the Liberian civil war while the control group was engaged in reading unrelated short stories. At the end of the treatment, both groups completed the questionnaire about the treatment video. Results found a significant difference between students in treatment and control groups in their knowledge of the treatment topic but no significant difference was found in their interest in the treatment topic. Therefore, it was concluded that treatment diffusion is not a threat to the internal validity of experimental designs in Nigeria.