A researcher wanted to know if sex and age affected how susceptible people were to distraction. She measured men and women aged 18-25, 26-30 and over 31 in two task conditions, one where they carried out a task with no distraction and one where they did a similar task but with the TV on and tuned to a sport channel. How many factors were there in this study?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

There are three factors in this study: sex, age, and task condition. The levels of sex and age are categorical variables (male/female and 18-25/26-30/over 31 years old), while the task condition is a binary variable (with or without distraction). Therefore, the design of the study involves a 3x2 factorial arrangement of the independent variables.

A Researcher Wanted to Know If Sex and Age Affected