Observations, Experiments and Surveys

information gathered from observations, surveys and experiments

• data

• population

• sample

• stats

Can pleasant aromas help a student learn better? Two researchers believed that the presence of a floral scent could improve a person’s learning ability in certain situations. They had 22 people work through a pencil-and-paper maze six times, three times while wearing a floral-scented mask and three times wearing an unscented mask. The three trials for each mask closely followed one another. Testers measured the length of time it took subjects to complete each of the six trials. They reported that, on average, subjects wearing the floral-scented mask completed the maze more quickly than those wearing the unscented mask, although the difference was not statistically significant. This study is

• a convenience sample 

• an observational study, not an experiment

• an experiment, but not a double-blind experiment 

• a double-blind experiment

You want to see if students who have a 4.0 grade point average study more than those who do not.

• experiment

• observational study

To test the effects of breakfast on grades I ask my students if they ate breakfast and then compare the breakfast eaters grades to the non-breakfast eaters. This is an example of:

• Observational study

• Experiment

You want to see if students who have a 4.0 grade point average study more than those who do not.

• survey

• observational study

• experiment

A study where researchers deliberately impose treatment on the individuals.

• Experiment

• Observational Study

• Survey

• Census

Individuals are monitored for measures of variables of interest but not influenced in response.

• Observational Study

• Experiment

• Voluntary Response

• Single-Blind

Which scenario is best described as an observational study?

• For a class project, students in Health class ask every 10^th student entering the school if they eat breakfast in the morning

• A social researcher wants to learn whether or not there is a link between attendance and grades. She gathers data from 15 school districts

• A researcher wants to learn whether or not there is a link between children’s daily amount of physical activity and their overall energy level. During lunch at the local high school, she distributed a short questionnaire to students in the cafeteria

• Sixty seniors taking a course in Advanced Algebra Concepts are randomly divided into two classes. One class uses a graphing calculator all the time, and the other class never uses graphing calculators. A guidance counselor wants to determine whether there is a link between graphing calculator use and students’ final exam grades

You want to compare the health of students who walk to school to the health of students who ride the bus

• experiment

• observational study

Researchers wanted to know if there is a link between proximity to high-tension wires and the rate of leukemia in children. To conduct the study, researchers compared the rate of leukemia for children who lived within 1/2 mile of high-tension wires to the rate of leukemia for children who did not live within 1/2 mile of high-tension wires.

• Observational Study

• Experiment