n an experiment conducted to determine the effects of package color on the numbe
ID: 802267 • Letter: N
Question
n an experiment conducted to determine the effects of package color on the number of cookies that were eaten, participants were presented with three boxes of cookies that had the name of the cookie and its ingredients typed in either blue, green, or purple ink. The experimenter determined the number of cookies eaten from each box. Present a testable hypothesis for this experiment. Specify the independent and dependent variables. What are some potential confounding variables? How could you prevent the confounding?
Explanation / Answer
Hypothesis: Effects of the color of the packaging on the number of cookies to be eaten
Experiment: The participants were given three boxes of cookies with the same brand name and their ingredients typed in blue, green and purple. The participants were the college students aged between 20-22 years and there were 10 participants out of which 5 were girls and 5 boys. Each participant was given a sheet of instructions and small cup of water and the three boxes of cookies. The participants after tasting each cookie has to rinse their mouth with the water in the cup. There were total 5 cookies in each box. After eating the cookies they were asked to mark their favourite cookies and the least favourite cookies and the middle preference as 'ok' in the form given to them. The experiment time lasted about 1 hour. Dependent variable is the amount of cookies eaten and independent variable is the colour of the ingredients typed in blue, green or purple ink.
Result: The maximum numbers of cookies to be eaten were pink followed by blue and at last green. 4 out of 5 girls marked their favourite cookies whose ingredients was typed in pink ink and their least favourite was that in purple ink whereas 4 out of 5 boys marked their favourite cookies which was typed in blue ink and the least favourite was in pink ink. Both the girls and the boys marked green ink as their intermediate preference. So the hypothesis can be proved with 90% confidence that the colour of the packaging has effect on number of of cookies to be eaten.
Confounding variables: Confounding variables are any variable which affect the dependent variable which the researcher fail to control or eliminate. Since the students were tested in the same room so there is possiblity that their individual comments can be heard by the others which could affect the response of the other participants. Also some students just randomly mark the favourite and least favourite cookies as they thought they were the same. This confounding variable can be eliminated if the students are tested in the different rooms and they could be told in a direct statement that these cookies are of different types before giving them the instructions.
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