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A researcher is studying the relationship between sugar consumption and weight gain. Twelve volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first group had five participants which were put on a diet low in sugar and the other group with the remaining seven participants received 10% of their calories from sugar. After 8 weeks, weight gain was recorded from each participant.
-The 'low sugar' group can be thought of as a control group. The control group is being used in this experiment to avoid
A) Confounding with the '10% sugar' group
B) Placebo effect
C) Nonresponse bias
D) Replication

Question

Use the following information for questions:
 A researcher is studying the relationship between sugar consumption and weight gain. Twelve volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first group had five participants which were put on a diet low in sugar and the other group with the remaining seven participants received 10% of their calories from sugar. After 8 weeks, weight gain was recorded from each participant.
-The 'low sugar' group can be thought of as a control group. The control group is being used in this experiment to avoid
A) Confounding with the '10% sugar' group
B) Placebo effect
C) Nonresponse bias
D) Replication

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The control group, which is the 'low sugar' group in this context, is used to avoid the placebo effect. This effect occurs when participants' expectations about the intervention influence the outcome. By having a control group that does not receive the experimental treatment (in this case, the additional sugar), researchers can compare results to see if changes in the experimental group are due to the treatment itself or other psychological factors.

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