1) A researcher is very interested in the smoking habits of gamblers and has decided to do a field study where she observes and surveys various gamblers over a period of time. What type of data collection and research technique do you think that she is using? If she publishes her study, what types of additional studies might be generated (be creative, think of other studies that might go well with smokers and gambling)?
2) A medical researcher is very interested in which of two new drugs is better in treating high blood pressure. She asks 60 men with high blood pressure to join the experiment and then she assigns each to a group of 30. She gives one group the first drug and the other group the other drug. What is the independent variable and what is the dependent variable in this study? Why?
3) Discuss scientific misconduct. What is the difference between research fraud and plagiarism? Give an example of each.
4) A researcher has proposed a study of a population with Hepatitis C, a blood/liver disease that is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids (sexual contact, sharing needles, etc.). Since she does not have access to medical records because of confidentiality, how will she “find” this population, i.e. what type of sampling techniques might she use? What is this kind of population called? Give two other examples of this type of population.
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