Is this a double-blind study? Explain your reasoning.

A nutrition researcher recently learned that several members of an ocean side community have been complaining of headaches and nausea. The researcher met with members of the community to try to determine what they might all have in common. She learned that they all eat at Acme restaurant at least once per week. She approached the restaurant owner to discuss possible causes for the complaints. The owner and the chef are baffled, but then remembered that they started using a different brand of seafood seasoning. The nutritionist asks if she can conduct a research study, and the owner and chef agree. The researcher and her medical doctor colleague receive approval from their university to conduct the study. They pay 20 research participants (ages 20-21 years old, male and female) to participate in the study. Ten participants (five males, five females) are randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group will eat the dish prepared with the new brand of seasoning, and the other group will eat the dish prepared with the old, previously used brand of seasoning. Only the nutritionist and the chef are aware of which participant receives which seasoning. The medical doctor research partner will meet with each participant the day after they eat at Acme restaurant to conduct a health survey and assessment, including questions about headaches and nausea.

 

(i) State the purpose of the study

 

(ii) State the hypothesis. Explain what information you used to come up with a hypothesis statement.

 

(iii) State the variables in the scenario. What are the Independent, Dependent, and Controlled (control) variables?

 

(iv) Is this a double-blind study? Explain your reasoning.

 

(v) Imagine that you conducted the experiment to test the hypothesis. Provide hypothetical results from the experiment (i.e., provide hypothetical data for the dependent variable). Do your hypothetical results support the hypothesis? Explain your answer.