Question

Students were asked to study for the science test either with music playing in the background or without music playing in the background. Scores are then compared. Is there a control group in this experiment?

a) Yes

b) No

c) None of the above

d) Both a and c

Answer 1

The control group in the experiment consists of students who studied without music, serving as a comparison to those who studied with music, making the correct answer a) Yes.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the scenario described, there is a control group. The control group is the set of students who were asked to study for the science test without music playing in the background. The purpose of the control group is to provide a standard of comparison for the group studying music playing. So, the correct answer to whether there is a control group in this experiment is a) Yes.

To ensure the integrity of the experiment and to avoid experimenter bias, ideally, the scorers of the tests would not know which students were in the control group and which were in the test group. This prevents the expectations of the researchers from affecting the outcome. Also, the control group must be as identical to the test group as possible except for the one variable being tested, which in this case is the presence or absence of background music.