A researcher finds 1000 mildly overweight women who exercise regularly, have not had a heart attack, and are willing to participate in the study. She randomly assigns 500 of the women to take an appetite suppressant. The other 500 women are given a placebo. Both groups are followed for five years, and the amount of weight lost after this time is recorded. The factor in the experiment is:

Question

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The factor being tested in this experiment is the treatment taken by women in the study - appetite suppressant or placebo. The researcher wants to determine if the appetite suppressant has an effect on weight loss compared to the placebo. Therefore, the use of a control group (B) and the length of the study (D) are important components of the study design, but they are not the factor being tested. The weight lost by women in the study (A) is the outcome being measured, but it is not the factor being tested.

A Researcher Finds 1000 Mildly Overweight Women Who Exercise Regularly