"School Psychology A school psychologist wants to test the effectiveness of a new method for teaching reading. She recruits 500 first-grade students in District 203 and randomly divides them into two groups. Group 1 is taught by means of the new method, while group 2 is taught by traditional methods. The same teacher is assigned to teach both groups. At the end of the year, an achievement test is administered and the results of the two groups are compared.


What is the response variable in this experiment?"

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the main goal of the experiment, which is to compare the effectiveness of two teaching methods on students' reading achievement.
2. Recall that the response variable (also called the dependent variable) is the outcome that is measured to see the effect of the treatments or conditions.
3. In this experiment, the treatments are the two teaching methods: the new method and the traditional method.
4. The response variable is the achievement test score at the end of the year, as it measures the students' reading performance after being taught by either method.
5. Therefore, the response variable is the students' reading achievement test results.

Key Concepts

Response Variable

The response variable is the outcome or dependent variable measured in an experiment to assess the effect of different treatments. It reflects the changes caused by the experimental conditions. In this question, it is the achievement test scores used to compare the effectiveness of teaching methods.

Experimental Design and Randomization

Experimental design involves planning how to assign subjects to different treatment groups to ensure valid comparisons. Randomization helps eliminate bias by equally distributing unknown factors across groups. Here, students are randomly divided into two groups to fairly test the new teaching method.

Control and Treatment Groups

Control and treatment groups allow comparison between a new method and a standard or baseline condition. The treatment group receives the new method, while the control group uses traditional methods. This setup helps isolate the effect of the new teaching approach on student achievement.