Unit 7, Lesson 1
Being Skeptical
Integrated Math 3
Practice
Problem 1
Which of these statements describes a key distinction between an observational study and an experimental study?
Experimental studies are more representative of the larger population than observational studies.
Data is collected in experimental studies, whereas data is not collected in observational studies.
Observational studies try to answer a question, whereas experimental studies do not.
Experimental studies directly influence subjects to see the effect, whereas observational studies do not directly influence the subjects.
Problem 2
Elena is interested in whether music affects plant growth. For a science fair project, she will grow one plant in a room that is normally kept quiet. She will grow another plant in another room that has classical piano music playing all the time. After 2 months, she compares the height of the plants to determine the effect of music on plant growth.
- What type of study is Elena designing?
- How could her design be improved to collect data that would be better for answering the question of interest?