A Publisher Is Considering Publishing a New Magazine About Environmentally-Friendly

question 46

Essay

A publisher is considering publishing a new magazine about environmentally-friendly living in the city and plans to gage interest in the magazine using potential consumers. Company researchers want to measure whether there is a difference in opinion between the new magazine and the competing publication. Company researchers believe that consumer reaction to the new magazine will depend on age so they decide to block on age. To do this, they create blocks for consumers between the ages 18-24 years, 25-32 years, 33-45 years, and 46 years and older. They then randomly select two of the blocks to read the first issue of the new magazine and the other two blocks to read a similar competing publication. Following the test, participants respond to a questionnaire about the magazine they read. Is this an effective design for the study? If not, describe an improvement.

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Definitions:

Skin Sense Receptors

Skin sense receptors are specialized cells in the skin that detect and respond to various stimuli such as touch, temperature, and pain.

Temperature Detection

The physiological and neural processes allowing organisms to sense and respond to changes in ambient temperature.

Vibration

An oscillation or periodic movement of particles in a medium or object.

Skin Stretching

The expansion of the skin due to factors such as growth, weight gain, or external forces.