Question

Determine whether the given description corresponds to an observational study or an experiment: A Gallup pole surveyed 1018 adults by telephone, and 22% of them reported that they smoked cigarettes within the past week.

Answer 1

Answer: Observational Study

Explanation: An experiment requires a scientist to observe subjects of the study under specific conditions where an independent variable is involved and controlled by the scientist.

An observational study on the other hand is in an uncontrolled environment and the scientist does not have any control on the variables. An example is polls. The purpose of this type of study is to get statistical values without interfering with the the subjects of the study.