Question

A biologist is interested in studying the effect of growth-enhancing nutrients and different salinity (salt) levels in water on the growth of shrimps. The biologist has ordered a large shipment of young tiger shrimps from a supply house for use in the study. The experiment is to be conducted in a laboratory where 10 tiger shrimps are randomly placed into each of 12 similar tanks in a controlled environment. The biologist is planning to use 3 different growth-enhancing nutrients (A, B, and C) and two different salinity levels (low and high). List the treatments that the biologist plans to use in this experiment. Using the treatments listed in part (a), describe a completely randomized design that will allow the biologist to compare the shrimps' growth after 3 weeks. Give one statistical advantage to having only tiger shrimps in the experiment. Explain why this is an advantage. Give one statistical disadvantage to having only tiger shrimps in the experiment. Explain why this is a disadvantage.

Answer 1

The biologist plans to use 3 different growth-enhancing nutrients and two different salinity levels as treatments in the experiment. A completely randomized design can be used to compare the shrimps' growth after 3 weeks. Having only tiger shrimps in the experiment reduces variability but may not generalize to other shrimp species.

Step-by-step explanation:

The biologist plans to use 3 different growth-enhancing nutrients (A, B, and C) and two different salinity levels (low and high) as treatments in the experiment. To compare the shrimps' growth after 3 weeks, a completely randomized design can be used. This involves randomly assigning each tank to one of the treatments, ensuring that each treatment is represented in equal numbers across the tanks.

Having only tiger shrimps in the experiment has a statistical advantage of reducing variability in the data. Since tiger shrimps are genetically similar, the growth differences observed can be attributed to the treatments rather than genetic variations. However, a statistical disadvantage is that the findings may not be generalized to other types of shrimps or species, as tiger shrimps may respond differently to the treatments compared to other shrimp species.