Question

You want to design an experiment to see if birds will choose feeders based on color. You choose 3 colors for the bird feeders. What would be the null hypothesis, first, second, and third alternative hypotheses? Also, identify the independent and dependent variables, constants, and positive and negative controls.

Answer 1

The null hypothesis is that birds do not choose feeders based on color, and the alternative hypotheses include preferences for specific colors or no difference between colors. The independent variable is the color of the feeders, and the dependent variable is the bird's choice of feeder. The constants include the location, bird food, and time of day, and the positive and negative controls help validate the results.

Step-by-step explanation:

The null hypothesis for the experiment would be that birds do not choose feeders based on color.

The first alternative hypothesis would be that birds show a preference for a specific color feeder.

The second alternative hypothesis would be that birds show a preference for a different specific color feeder.

The third alternative hypothesis would be that there is no difference in preference between the three colors.

The independent variable in this experiment would be the feeder color.

The dependent variable would be the bird's choice of feeder.

The constants would include the location of the feeders, the type of bird food used, and the time of day the experiment is conducted.

The positive control would be a feeder with a known preferred color, while the negative control would be a feeder with a color that birds have shown no preference for in previous studies.