Question

Mrs. DeFord wanted to know whether or not her students would do better on a quiz if she promised them candy.

She went to the library and read several studies about the effect of giving food to lab animals. She found out that if animals were given food as a reward for doing something, they usually did better the more reward they were given.

She figured that the more candy her students were promised, the better they would do on the quiz.

She had all of her classes participate in the experiment; there were four groups in all. Each group had the same number of boys and girls, they were all given the same quiz, they were all the same age, of the same ability, and they came from the same background.

The first group was not promised any candy. The second group was promised 1 candy bar if they did well on the quiz. The third group was promised 2 candy bars and the fourth group was promised 3 candy bars, for doing well on the quiz.

Group #1 got an average of 70% on the quiz. Group #2 got an average of 80%, Group #3 got an average of 90%, and Group #4 got an average of 95%.

Identify the following:

a. Independent Variable:

b. Dependent Variable:

c. Constants (at least 2):

d. Testable Question:

e. Hypothesis:

f. Formal Conclusion Statement (refer back to the hypothesis...accepted/rejected...because the data shows...):

Answer 1

Independent variable:
Number of candy bars

Dependent variable:
Performance on test

Constants:
Everything listed in the fourth paragraph (number of students, number of boys and girls, same quiz, etc.)

Testable question:
Do students perform better on quizzes if they’re rewarded with candy bars?

Hypothesis:
Students will perform better on the quiz when rewarded with candy bars.

Formal conclusion statement:
The hypothesis is accepted because the students performed better on the quiz when they were rewarded with candy bars, and the more candy bars they were promised, the better their performance.

Answer 2

a.) Independent Variable: # of candy bars promised to each group

[ The Independent Varaiable is what you change in the experiment]

b.) Dependent Variable: Quiz Scores

[ The Dependent Variable is what you're testing in the experiment; what the experiment should affect]

c.) Constant(s): Same Quiz, same number of gender kids in each group, same age kids in each group, same ability, and same background. [and same time, I'm assuming.]

[Constants are what you keep the same in the experiment; what you're not changing.]

d.) Testable Question: Will promising kids candy make them do better on tests and quizzes? [or something along this lines of this]

[The Testable Question is what you're trying to find out in the experiment]

e.) Hypothesis: The more candy the students were promised, the better results Mrs. DeFord would get from them.

[The Hypothesis is what the person performing the experiment expects will happen; an educated guess]

f. Formal Conclusion: Data shows that kids who were promised more candy had a better average than kids who were promised less candy/none. Mrs. DeFord's hypothesis was correct, since she assumed the more candy the students were promised, the better they would do on the quiz.

[The Formal Conclusion is what you have learned from the experiment, and wether or not the hypothesis was correct or not.]

I hope this helps! :)