Question

An agricultural scientist wanted to compare the effect of a new fertilizer to that of three older fertilizers—X, Y, and Z—on the growth of vegetables typically grown in small gardens. Two hundred green bean seedlings were individually planted in identical pots and randomly assigned to one of four groups of 50 each. Seedlings in one group were given the new fertilizer, and the three remaining groups of seedlings were given fertilizers X, Y, or Z, respectively. At the end of four weeks, all seedlings were dried and weighed. The scientist found that the mean weight of the seedlings in the group given the new fertilizer was significantly greater than the mean weights of seedlings in the other three groups. The scientist concluded that the new fertilizer was more effective than the other fertilizers for all vegetables. Why is the scientist’s conclusion not appropriate?

Answer 1

The scientist's conclusion is not appropriate because the experiment only focused on the growth of green bean seedlings and did not consider other factors that can influence the effectiveness of fertilizers for different vegetables.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scientist's conclusion is not appropriate because the experiment only focused on the growth of green bean seedlings. It is not valid to generalize the results to all vegetables.

Additionally, the experiment only compared the new fertilizer to three older fertilizers, without considering other factors such as soil type, climate, or specific vegetable species. These factors can greatly influence the effectiveness of different fertilizers for different vegetables.