Ben believes that standing on his head for 5 minutes first thing every day will help him to be in a good mood all morning. He stands on his head for 5 minutes when he wakes up for3 days in a row. On all three of these mornings he is in a good mood, so he concludes that standing on his head is responsible. Which of the following is a potential confound in Ben's study?
A) the lack of a control condition where Ben does not stand on his head
B) the expectation that standing on his head will put him in a good mood
C) the very small amount of data that he collects (just 3 days' worth)
D) all of the above

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The lack of a control condition (A) makes it impossible to know whether standing on his head is actually responsible for the good mood. This is a major confound. Additionally, Ben's expectation (B) that standing on his head will put him in a good mood could create a placebo effect, where his belief that the intervention will work influences the outcome. Lastly, the small amount of data (C) collected (just 3 days) is also a confound because it limits the generalizability of the conclusion.

Ben Believes That Standing on His Head for 5 Minutes