Question

A recent study showed that viral medications might be useful for fighting certain bacterial infections. participants with gastrointestinal issues were assigned to either a placebo or viral medication for the first four weeks of the study, followed by an additional four weeks on the other treatment. their symptoms showed significantly more improvement from the viral medication than the placebo. what type of study is this, and what is the explanatory variable? choose 1 answer:a group of researchers wants to know whether graduates from different teacher preparation programs are more likely to stay in the profession. they select a stratified random sample of this year's graduates from several programs. the researchers will contact the graduates after 111, 555, and 101010 years to see whether they are teaching in those years. what type of observational study is this?.

Answer 1

The study in the first scenario is an experimental study.

The explanatory variable in the first scenario is the type of treatment (placebo or viral medication).

The study in the second scenario is an observational study.

The type of observational study in the second scenario is a longitudinal study.

Step-by-step explanation:

The study described in the first scenario is an experimental study. In this type of study, participants are assigned to different treatments or interventions, and the researchers control the assignment. In this case, participants with gastrointestinal issues were assigned to either a placebo or viral medication for four weeks, and then switched to the other treatment for an additional four weeks. By assigning participants to different treatments, the researchers can compare the effectiveness of the viral medication versus the placebo.

The explanatory variable in this study is the type of treatment received by the participants. The researchers are interested in investigating whether the viral medication is more effective in improving symptoms compared to the placebo. Therefore, the type of treatment (placebo or viral medication) is the explanatory variable being studied.

In the second scenario, the study described is an observational study. In an observational study, researchers do not control the assignment of participants to different groups or treatments. Instead, they observe and collect data on variables of interest without any manipulation. In this case, the researchers are observing graduates from different teacher preparation programs to determine if they stay in the teaching profession over time.

The type of observational study described here is a longitudinal study. Longitudinal studies involve following a group of participants over an extended period of time and collecting data at multiple points. In this study, the researchers will contact the graduates after 1, 5, and 10 years to see if they are teaching. By tracking the graduates over time, the researchers can assess whether graduates from different teacher preparation programs are more likely to stay in the profession.