Question

Two amateur gardeners are interested in comparing the yields of two varieties of tomatoes. They each have small backyard gardens. Each gardener is going to plant three plants of each variety in his garden. The first gardener will select six small areas in his garden for planting, then choose three of these at random for the three plants of the first variety and then use the remaining three for the second variety. The second gardener will follow the same procedure with his own randomization in his garden. At the end of the growing season they will compare the yields of the two varieties. In this example the gardens are ________.

Answer 1

Blocks.

Step-by-step explanation:

As per the question, the gardens exemplify the 'blocks' in the given example as they reflect the experimental sub-group which are identical(similar) to each other and arranged relatively in groups under particular research conditions randomly. Such a research methodology is employed to remove the effects of nuisance variables and reduce the variability of treatment surroundings.

In the given example, the backyard gardens exemplify the sub-divisions or 'blocks' of the subjects of the experiment where the first and second gardeners employ a similar treatment method and condition in order to reduce the variability among the two conditions and produce an effective comparison and estimate between the two. Thus, 'blocks' is the correct answer.