Discrete Continous QUESTION 3 Cognitive psychologist would like to evaluate the

Question

Discrete Continous QUESTION 3 Cognitive psychologist would like to evaluate the claim that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish can help improve memory in normal adult humans. One group of participants is given a pills containing a large dose of fish extract containing the Omega-3 ( 500 mg per day), and a second group is given a placebo (sugar pil. The researcher asks each participant to read the front page of the local newspaper thoroughly every day and to take one pill every day. The researcher gives each participant a memory test at the end of two weeks and records how many news items each participant remembers from the past three weeks of news. Answer the following questions about this scenario: a) What names would you give the independent and dependent variables? b) Is the dependent variable discrete or continuous? c) What scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio; and continuous or discrete) is used to measure the t variable? d) What research method is being used ( experimental or observational? Explain why you conclude that the research method is one or the other.

Explanation / Answer

a) The Independent Variable and Dependent Variable of study are;

Independent Variable: The Omega-3 pills given to the subjects.

Dependent Variable: The number of items that each participant is able to retrieve from the newspaper in the memory test.

Independent Variable is the variable that is controlled or changed in the experiment to study.As in this experiment the variable that is controlled is -Experimental group is given Omega-3 pills and the Control group is given the placebo sugar pills. The response of participants depends on the treatment given,hence, the responses are dependent variable.

b) The dependent variable,the responses of the participants are numeric scores that has a minimum zero value and a maximum value, and is measured quantitatively, hence, is continuous.

c) Ratio scale that is a continuous scale is used to measure the independent variable. Since ,we are using a parametric scale for dependent scale and the data that we get for independent variable has zero value and a maximum value, so the scale would be ratio scale.

d) This research is an experiment, as in this research participants are divided into two groups experimental and control.

Experimental group received the Omega-3 pills and the control group received the placebo sugar pill. Thus, this study is designed to study the cause and effect relationship between the variables. Hence,is an experimental study.

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