Problem
Scenario I: A group of researchers was interested in how the media impacts people's perceptions of food, and wondered if showing people, a video of disgusting food before rating food would make them rate food less favorably than others. One group was shown a 5-minute clip of rotting plants and food and cockroaches eating the food, then was asked to taste and rate a hamburger and a salad. The other group was not shown a video and asked to taste and rate a hamburger and salad. They then compared the ratings across the groups.
i. What is the hypothesis here? What is the null hypothesis?
Showing people a video of disgusting food will make them rate it less favorably than others
ii. What are the variables in the study? Is each variable being manipulated or measured?
iii. What is the independent variable? What is the dependent variable?
Scenario II: A study published in the journal Appetite in January suggests, for example, that there is a link between enjoyment of bitter taste and antisocial personality traits. In that study, close to 1,000 Americans were given standard personality and taste-preference questionnaires. People who enjoyed foods with bitter notes - such as grapefruit, tonic water, coffee and radishes - were more likely to admit that they enjoyed tormenting people or that they tend to manipulate others to get their way.
i. What is the hypothesis here? What is the null hypothesis?
ii. What are the variables in the study? Is each variable being manipulated or measured?
iii. Is this study experimental or correlational?
Now it's your turn - design a study (in a sentence or two) for each of the following topics:
Topic I: The relationship between exercise per day and calories consumed
i. Explain how you would design an experimental study to test this.
ii. Explain how you could design a correlational study to test this.
Topic II: The relationship between children's play and their cognitive skills
i. Explain how you would design an experimental study to test this.
ii. Explain how you could design a correlational study to test this.