An educator wishes to study the effects of sleep deprivation on the ability to concentrate. He decides to study the students in a calculus class. After consultation with a statistician, the educator decides to randomly allocate students to either a group that will sleep for 8 hours the night before class or 6 hours. The educator does not know which group a student belongs to when she or he comes to class. This study is:
A)double blinded, because the educator does not know who belongs to the 6- or 8-hour group.
B)double blinded, because the students have been told not to inform the educator about the treatment group they belong to.
C)a placebo controlled study, because 8 hours is normal sleeping time.
D)a single blinded randomized study, because the educator does not know the treatment groups students belong to but the students know.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This study is a single blinded randomized study because the educator is blinded to which group the students belong to, but the students are not blinded and know their group assignment. Additionally, this study is not placebo-controlled since 6 hours of sleep is still a valid treatment condition, and it is not double-blinded since the students were not instructed to keep the treatment group assignment secret from the educator.

An Educator Wishes to Study the Effects of Sleep Deprivation