A pharmaceutical company wishes to study a possible new headache medicine. They are doing human trials with 1000 volunteers and need to ______________
A) give both control and experimental groups the same amount of the new medication
B) have 10 volunteers in the control group
C) control for the type of headachestress, migraine, or other causes
D) put all women in the control group and all men in the experimental group
E) divide the groups by level of health

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Controlling for the type of headache is important as different types of headaches may have different causes and respond differently to medication. This will help ensure that any observed effects are due to the medication and not other factors. None of the other options are appropriate, as giving both groups the same amount of medication would not allow for comparison, having only 10 people in the control group may not be sufficient for statistical analysis, dividing by gender or level of health may introduce biases, and neither of these factors are likely to be related to the effectiveness of the headache medication.

A Pharmaceutical Company Wishes to Study a Possible New Headache