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Janelle is conducting an experiment to determine whether a new medication is effective in reducing sneezing. She finds 1,000 volunteers with sneezing issues and divides them into two groups. The control group does not receive any medication; the treatment group receives the medication. The patients in the treatment group show reduced signs of sneezing. What can Janelle conclude from this experiment?

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Final answer:

Janelle can tentatively conclude that the medication seems to reduce sneezing but should include a placebo control in her experiment to confidently ascertain the medication's efficacy, considering the placebo effect and potentially implementing a double-blind study design.

Step-by-step explanation:

Janelle's experiment to determine the effectiveness of a new medication in reducing sneezing is an example of a controlled experiment in the field of Biology and, more specifically, a study within the realm of medical research. She has correctly implemented a control group, which is essential for comparing the baseline condition against the treated condition. However, in order to make a confident conclusion about the medication's efficacy, Janelle needs to consider the placebo effect. Without a placebo, participants may experience reduced sneezing due to psychological factors rather than the medication's active ingredients. To account for this, a well-designed experiment would include a placebo treatment for the control group.

To further reduce potential biases and strengthen the validity of her conclusions, Janelle should also consider employing a double-blind study design, where neither the participants nor the researchers know which group is receiving the actual medication. This maintains the experiment's integrity by minimizing the effects of expectations on the participants and researchers. Therefore, Janelle can tentatively conclude that the medication appears to reduce sneezing symptoms based on the information given, but she should perform further testing with a placebo control to have a more definitive answer.

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