Chapter 2: Problem 40
Explain why some studies include both a control group and a placebo treatment. What additional comparisons are possible if both a control group and a placebo group are included?
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Chapter 2: Problem 40
Explain why some studies include both a control group and a placebo treatment. What additional comparisons are possible if both a control group and a placebo group are included?
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The article "Workers Grow More Dissatisfied" in the San Luis Obispo Tribune (August 22,2002 ) states that "a survey of 5000 people found that while most Americans continue to find their jobs interesting, and are even satisfied with their commutes, a bare majority like their jobs." This statement was based on the fact that only 51 percent of those responding to a mail survey indicated that they were satisfied with their jobs. Describe any potential sources of bias that might limit the researcher's ability to draw conclusions about working Americans based on the data collected in this survey.
The article "I'd Like to Buy a Vowel, Drivers Say" (USA Today, August 7, 2001) speculates that young people prefer automobile names that consist of just numbers and/or letters that do not form a word (such as Hyundai's XG300, Mazda's 626 , and BMW's 325i). The article goes on to state that Hyundai had planned to identify the car now marketed as the XG300 with the name Concerto, until they determined that consumers hated it and that they thought XG300 sounded more "technical" and deserving of a higher price. Do the students at your school feel the same way? Describe how you would go about selecting a sample to answer this question.
Is status related to a student's understanding of science? The article "From Here to Equity: The Influence of Status on Student Access to and Understanding of Science" (Culture and Comparative Studies [1999]: \(577-\) 602 ) described a study on the effect of group discussions on learning biology concepts. An analysis of the relationship between status and "rate of talk" (the number of ontask speech acts per minute) during group work included gender as a blocking variable. Do you think that gender is a useful blocking variable? Explain.
An article from the Associated Press (May 14, 2002) led with the headline "Academic Success Lowers Pregnancy Risk." The article described an evaluation of a program that involved about 350 students at 18 Seattle schools in high crime areas. Some students took part in a program beginning in elementary school in which teachers showed children how to control their impulses, recognize the feelings of others, and get what they want without aggressive behavior. Others did not participate in the program. The study concluded that the program was effective because by the time young women in the program reached age 21 , the pregnancy rate among them was \(38 \%\), compared to \(56 \%\) for the women in the experiment who did not take part in the program. Explain why this conclusion is valid only if the women in the experiment were randomly assigned to one of the two experimental groups.
Does eating broccoli reduce the risk of prostate cancer? According to an observational study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (see CNN.com web site article titled "Broccoli, Not Pizza Sauce, Cuts Cancer Risk, Study Finds," January 5,2000 ), men who ate more cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and cabbage) had a lower risk of prostate cancer. This study made separate comparisons for men who ate different levels of vegetables. According to one of the investigators, "at any given level of total vegetable consumption, as the percent of cruciferous vegetables increased, the prostate cancer risk decreased." Based on this study, is it reasonable to conclude that eating cruciferous vegetables causes a reduction in prostate cancer risk? Explain.
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