A study compares the effect on college students of two different TV advertisements for spring break in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Call the ads "Ad #1" and "Ad #2." We want to know which ad makes more students want to visit Gulf Shores during spring break. The subjects are 90 students taking a course in hotel management. The design of the study looks like this: A weakness of this study is that
A) this is an observational study, so we can't conclude that the ad viewed causes the response.
B) the design is biased in favor of Ad #1.
C) the design is biased against Ad #1.
D) because the students all come from one course, the findings may not extend to all college students.
E) there is no placebo group.

Question

A study compares the effect on college students of two different TV advertisements for spring break in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Call the ads "Ad #1" and "Ad #2." We want to know which ad makes more students want to visit Gulf Shores during spring break. The subjects are 90 students taking a course in hotel management. The design of the study looks like this:  A weakness of this study is that
A) this is an observational study, so we can't conclude that the ad viewed causes the response. 
B) the design is biased in favor of Ad #1. 
C) the design is biased against Ad #1. 
D) because the students all come from one course, the findings may not extend to all college students. 
E) there is no placebo group.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The weakness of this study is that the sample is limited to only one course in hotel management, which may not be representative of all college students. This limits the generalizability of the findings to the wider population. The other options are not necessarily true based on the information given.

A Study Compares the Effect on College Students of Two