Question

A professor developed a study to determine ways of producing more participation in her classes. In one class, she provided free doughnuts to students every day, whereas in another she gave them nothing. She had an assistant takes notes on the number of comments and questions students made in each class. Which class represents the control group?

a. both the class given and not given the doughnuts
b. the class not given the doughnuts
c. the class given the doughnuts
d. neither the class given nor not given the doughnuts

Answer 1

The control group in the professor's study is the class not given the doughnuts. This group serves as the baseline for comparison against the experimental group, which received the manipulation of free doughnuts to assess its impact on class participation. option a.

Step-by-step explanation:

The class that represents the control group in the professor's study to determine ways of producing more participation in her classes is the class not given the doughnuts. In an ideal experimental design, the control group is the one that is not exposed to the experimental manipulation. In this case, the independent variable is the provision of free doughnuts. Therefore, the class that did not receive this treatment serves as the control group for comparison against the experimental group, which is the class that received the doughnuts.