91Ó°ÊÓ

A pharmaceutical company has developed an experimental drug meant to relieve symptoms associated with the common cold. The company identifies 300 adult males 25 to 29 years old who have a common cold and randomly divides them into two groups. Group 1 is given the experimental drug, while group 2 is given a placebo. After 1 week of treatment, the proportion that still have cold symptoms in each group are compared. (a) What is the response variable in this experiment? (b) Think of some of the factors in the study. How are they controlled? (c) What are the treatments? How many treatments are there? (d) How are the factors that are not controlled dealt with? (e) What type of experimental design is this? (f) Identify the subjects. (g) Draw a diagram similar to Figure \(7,8,\) or 10 to illustrate the design.

Step by step solution

01

Identify Response Variable

The response variable is the outcome or result that is measured in the experiment. In this case, it is whether or not the subjects still have cold symptoms after 1 week of treatment.

02

Identify and Control Factors

The factors include the age group of the subjects (25 to 29 years old), the fact that they all have a common cold, and the type of treatment (experimental drug vs. placebo). These factors are controlled by selecting a specific demographic and dividing them into two groups randomly.

03

Identify Treatments

There are two treatments in this study: the experimental drug and the placebo.

04

Deal with Uncontrolled Factors

Uncontrolled factors, such as varying levels of initial symptoms or different health conditions, are dealt with by randomly assigning subjects to the two groups, which helps to distribute these variables evenly.

05

Determine Experimental Design Type

This is a randomized controlled trial because the subjects are randomly divided into two groups and receive different treatments to compare outcomes.

06

Identify Subjects

The subjects are the 300 adult males aged 25 to 29 years who have a common cold.

07

Create Experimental Design Diagram

Write down and draw a diagram illustrating the random assignment of subjects into two groups: Group 1 receiving the experimental drug and Group 2 receiving the placebo, followed by comparing the proportions with symptoms after 1 week.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

• Full Textbook Solutions

  Get detailed explanations and key concepts

• Unlimited Al creation

  Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

• Ads-free access

  To over 500 millions flashcards

• Money-back guarantee

  We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with 91Ó°ÊÓ!

Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Response Variable

In this experiment, the response variable is a critical element. It is essentially the outcome that the researchers are interested in measuring. For this pharmaceutical study, the response variable is whether or not the subjects still have cold symptoms after one week of treatment.
By focusing on this result, the researchers are able to determine the effectiveness of the experimental drug compared to the placebo.
The response variable is a crucial part of any experimental design because it provides measurable data that indicates the impact of the treatments.

Controlled Factors

To ensure the reliability and validity of an experiment, certain factors must be controlled. In this case, controlled factors include:
• The age group of the subjects (25 to 29 years old)
• Ensuring all subjects have a common cold
• The type of treatment given (experimental drug vs. placebo)
These factors help standardize the conditions under which the experiment is conducted.
By controlling for these variables, researchers can reduce variability and focus on the effects of the treatment itself.

Randomized Controlled Trial

The experimental design used here is a randomized controlled trial (RCT). This is a gold standard in clinical research because it allows for the minimization of bias and ensures a fair comparison between groups.
The key features of a randomized controlled trial include:
• Random assignment of subjects into different groups
• A control group (receiving placebo) and an experimental group (receiving the drug)
This design helps ensure that any differences in outcomes (the response variable) can be attributed to the treatment rather than other extraneous factors.

Treatments

In the context of this experiment, treatments refer to what is being given to the subjects to compare the outcomes. There are two types of treatments in this study:
• The experimental drug
• The placebo
By comparing the effectiveness of these two treatments, researchers can determine whether the new drug is an improvement over no treatment (placebo).
Each treatment is administered under controlled conditions to ensure that the results are reliable and valid.

Subjects

The subjects of an experiment are the participants who are being studied. Here, the subjects are 300 adult males aged 25 to 29 years who have a common cold.
They are chosen based on specific criteria to ensure that the results of the experiment are relevant and applicable to the target population.
Subjects are randomly assigned to either the treatment or the control group, which helps balance out any potential variability and ensures that the groups are comparable.