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Confounding Variables
Need help with Confounding variables handout short answer required. 5 questions.
Confounding VariablesAnswer the same four questions for each of the experiments described below. Hint: One of the selections contain no confounds. 1. Identify the independent variable(s) 2. Identify the dependent variable(s). 3. Identify any confounding variable(s). 4. Propose a method to "unconfound" the experiment. Confound selection 1: TomRogerswantedtotestanew"singalong"methodtoteachmathtofourthgraders(e.g.,"Ilove to multiply" to the tune of "God Bless America"). He used the singalong method in his first period class. His sixth period students continued solving math problems with the old method. At the end of the term, Mr. Rogers found that the first period class scored significantly lower than the sixth period class on a mathematics achievement test. He concluded that the singalong method was a total failure. Confound selection 2: Anairportadministratorinvestigatedtheattentionspansofairtrafficcontrollerstodeterminehow many incoming flights the average controller can coordinate at the same time. Each randomly selected controller was tested, without his or her knowledge, by a computer program that fed false flight information to a computer terminal. The controller first "received" information from one plane, and by the end of an hour the controller was coordinating 10 planes simultaneously. The administrator analyzed the errors collected by the computer program. The analysis revealed that the maximum number of planes a controller could handle without making potentially fatal errors was six planes. Also, no errors occurred when only one to three planes were incoming. He concluded that a controller should never coordinate more than six incoming flights. Confound selection 3: Adrugcompanydevelopedanewmedicationtocontrolthemanicphaseofbipolarmanic-depression. The firm hired a hospital psychiatrist to test the effectiveness of the drug. He identified a group of manic-depressive patients and randomly assigned them to a drug or placebo group. Nurse Ratched was told to administer the drug and Nurse Johnson was told to administer the placebo. Each nurse made daily observations of her patients during treatment. A month later the observations were compared. In general, patients in the drug group had behaved more "normally" than patients in the placebo group. The drug company publicized its product's effectiveness. Confound selection 4: Dr.Goodrichwantedtodemonstratethathistireswerebetterthanthoseofhiscompetitor,Dr.Goodyear. From car registration and leasing records, he found 40 salespeople who drove the same model of automobile approximately the same number of miles per week. Anonymously, Dr. Goodrich hired an independent research assistant, who was unaware of the purpose of the
