Which of the Following Examples Illustrates Experimental Research

question 37

Multiple Choice

Which of the following examples illustrates experimental research?

• A) A researcher studies the profiles of National Merit Scholars to determine what factors are associated with their success
• B) A researcher does a study where he manipulates the types of memory strategies students are taught and then measures their recall
• C) A researcher does a study where he examines the correlation between mathematics anxiety and time to solve a mathematics story problem set
• D) A researcher does a study where she carries out a survey that quantifies student beliefs about mathematics and follows that study up with a series of qualitative interviews with students

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Definitions:

Scatterplot

A type of graph used in statistics to display values for typically two variables for a set of data where the dots in the plot indicate the values obtained for each individual.

Explanatory Variable

A type of independent variable that is manipulated or categorized to measure its effect on a dependent variable.

Response Variable

A variable that measures the outcome of a study, often used as the dependent variable whose changes are tested against independent variables.

Categorical Variables

Variables that can take on one of a limited and usually fixed number of possible values, representing qualitative data, such as gender or eye color.