STAT-2300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Statistical Unit, Dependent And Independent Variables
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24 Feb 2017
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An experiment is a controlled study that is conducted to determine the effect that varying one or more explanatory variables has on a response variable. Experiments are often preferred over observational studies because they provide stronger evidence for causation. **explanatory variable = a type of independent variable that is most often the variable that is altered by the experimenter. They use the changes made to this variable to get results. **response variable = a dependent variable that is most often the variable in which the experimenter is (cid:272)urious a(cid:271)out. The(cid:455)"re ofte(cid:374) tr(cid:455)i(cid:374)g see results of this varia(cid:271)le to develop their (cid:272)o(cid:374)(cid:272)lusio(cid:374). There are four key elements of a good experiment, and they are: control comparison group this group provides a starting point, or something to refer back to in order to test the results of an experiment. This group may experience placebos, or no instruction at all except to provide information about their lives in their current states.