The Placebo Research Group conducted a study to find the extent of placebo effects. A group of men randomly selected were asked to take a test before and after taking a pill that induces a mild headache. The pill in half of the randomly selected men was replaced with a similar pill that has no effect. For each trial, researchers recorded the change in time men took to complete the tests before and after taking the pill.
- Describe the explanatory and response variable in this study.
- What are the treatments?
- Identify any lurking variables that could interfere with this study.
- Is it possible to use blinding in this study?
OpenStax Introductory Statistics 2e, 1.4 Experimental Design and Ethics, exercise 4