Question

Many people who are in favor of alternative medicine claim that large doses of vitamin C introduced into a vein speed up the healing of surgical wounds. Describe an experiment to test this hypothesis. Your answer must include at least:

(1) the difference between the experimental group of subjects and the control group
(2) two conditions that must be kept constant in both groups
(3) data that should be collected
(4) an example of experimental results that would support the hypothesis.
a. Experimental group receives vitamin C, control group does not; constant conditions include age and surgery type; data collected includes wound healing time; results support the hypothesis if the experimental group's wounds heal faster.
b. Experimental group receives a placebo, control group receives vitamin C; constant conditions include gender and surgery location; data collected includes blood pressure; results support the hypothesis if the control group's blood pressure is higher.
c. Both groups receive vitamin C; constant conditions include blood type and surgery time; data collected includes shoe size; results support the hypothesis if shoe size increases in both groups.
d. Experimental group receives vitamin C, control group receives vitamin D; constant conditions include hair color and shoe size; data collected includes IQ scores; results support the hypothesis if IQ scores decrease in both groups.

Answer 1

To test the hypothesis that intravenous vitamin C speeds up surgical wound healing, one would compare an experimental group receiving vitamin C to a control group not receiving it. Controlled variables may include age and surgery type, and the collected data would focus on wound healing times. The hypothesis would be supported if the experimental group shows faster healing.

Step-by-step explanation:

Designing an Experiment to Test the Effectiveness of Vitamin C on Wound Healing

In planning an experiment to test whether high doses of vitamin C administered intravenously can speed up surgical wound healing, one would establish an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group would receive the vitamin C treatment, whereas the control group would not receive this treatment, serving as a baseline for comparison.

To ensure the validity of the experiment, at least two conditions must be controlled across both groups. These could include the age of the subjects and the type of surgery they undergo to minimize the variation caused by these factors. The primary data collected should directly reflect the outcome of interest—in this case, the time it takes for surgical wounds to heal.

Finally, if the data show that the experimental group, receiving vitamin C, experiences faster wound healing compared to the control group, this would support the hypothesis. However, if there is no significant difference in wound healing times between groups, this would suggest that vitamin C does not have the hypothesized effect.