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 response variable in this experiment is:

Question

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The response variable in this experiment is the amount of weight lost after five years. This is what is being measured to determine the effectiveness of the appetite suppressant versus the placebo. The other variables listed (proportion of women in each group that stayed in the study, whether the women exercised, and the age of the women) are potential explanatory variables that may be analyzed in relation to the amount of weight lost.

A Researcher Finds 1000 Mildly Overweight Women Who Exercise Regularly