Experimental Design

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What is experimental design?

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Experimental design is the process of planning an experiment to ensure that the results are valid and reliable. It involves selecting the subjects, treatments, and methods of data collection.

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What is the purpose of a control group in an experiment?

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The control group serves as a baseline for comparison, allowing researchers to determine the effectiveness of the treatment by comparing it to a group that does not receive the treatment.

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Define 'blocking' in experimental design.

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Blocking is a technique used to reduce variability by grouping similar experimental units together before random assignment to treatments.

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What is the placebo effect?

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The placebo effect occurs when participants experience a perceived improvement in their condition due to their belief in the treatment, even when they receive a non-active treatment.

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What is randomization in experimental design?

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Randomization is the process of randomly assigning subjects to different treatment groups to eliminate bias and ensure that each group is comparable.

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Explain the difference between observational studies and experiments.

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Observational studies observe subjects without manipulation, while experiments involve the manipulation of variables to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

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What is confounding in an experiment?

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Confounding occurs when an outside variable influences both the independent and dependent variables, potentially skewing the results.

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Why is sample size important in experimental design?

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A larger sample size increases the reliability of the results and reduces the impact of random variation, leading to more accurate conclusions.

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What does blinding mean in the context of experiments?

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Blinding is a technique where participants (single-blind) or both participants and researchers (double-blind) are unaware of which treatment is being administered to prevent bias.

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What is the significance of random assignment in experiments?

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Random assignment helps ensure that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group, which minimizes pre-existing differences between groups.