Question

Suppose you want to test the causal claim about chewing gum improving your mood and focus. How could you design an experiment to test this claim? What would the variables be? Would each be manip- ulated or measured? What results would you expect? Sketch a graph of the outcomes you would predict. Would your experiment satisfy the three criteria for supporting a causal statement?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Experiment – To being the experiment, the hypothesis must be tested. In this case, the hypothesis is whether or not chewing gum might help a person relax their mood and improve focus. There needs to be a control group and an experimental group. Both groups will have a typical school test to study for. The experimental group will study in a quiet environment while chewing gum, maintaining a healthy diet and have a normal schedule. Furthermore, this group will also chew gum while answering the exam. The experimental group will have the same diet, schedule and exam. However, they will not have chewing gum.

Independent variable – Chewing gum

Dependent variable – the exam results that will help quantify their mood and focus.

The results would be measured for the control group and manipulated for the experimental group with the help of chewing gum.

It can be expected that the students who chewed gum actually answered the exam better than the ones who didn’t.

A correlation coefficient would be used to support the criteria for the causal statement. If these students would score well, have happier moods and produce better results under the same schedule, diet and similar IQ level, then the chewing gum will have worked. Thus proving that chewing gum helps to better the mood and improve focus.