Question

Researchers are interested in the effectiveness of a new allergy medication; they want to know whether the medication will reduce the severity of allergy symptoms. Researchers also want to know which method of delivery is best pill, skin patch, or nasal mist). They collect a volunteer sample of 120 adults (aged 20 - 50) who are experiencing allergy symptoms. They randomly assign 60 adults to the placebo and 60 adults to the active drug. From each group of 60 they then assign 20 to take a pill, 20 to use a skin patch, and 20 to use a nasal mist. Each week of the experiment, researchers survey the severity of each participant's symptoms. 24. What is the response variable in this experiment? 25. How many subjects are there in this experiment? 26. What are the factors in this experiment? 27. How many treatments are there? 28. Which factor (if any) are the subjects blind to? 29. Will researchers be able to generalize the results of this experiment to the general population of adults aged 20 - 50? Why or why not? 30. After six weeks of the study, researchers find that the patients taking the active drug experienced less severe allergy symptoms than the patients taking the placebo. Can researchers draw a causal conclusion (asserting that the active drug caused the reduction in symptoms)? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Solution:

24) The response variable in this experiment is the allergy symptoms.

(Since the researchers is interested in studying the effect of various medications on the allergy which will be dependent on the medication used. )

25) There are in all 120 (adults aged 20-50) subjects in this experiment who are facing allergy symptoms.

(Subjects are usually the people on whom the study is conducted. )

26) The factors ie; explanatory or independent variables in this experiment are: Placebo and Active drug.

( Factors are further classified into two or more levels. Here they are classified into three levels each. ie, pill, skin patch and nasal mist)

27) There are three treatments which are Pill, skin patch and nasal mist.

( The combination of factor levels are known as treatments)

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