Pismo Beach, California, has an annual clam festival that includes a clam chowder contest. Judges rate clam chowders from local restaurants, and the judging is done in such a way that the judges are not aware of which chowder is from which restaurant. One year, much to the dismay of the seafood restaurants on the waterfront, Denny’s chowder was declared the winner! (When asked what the ingredients were, the cook at Denny’s said he wasn’t sure—he just had to add the right amount of nondairy creamer to the soup stock that he got from Denny’s distribution center!)
a. Do you think that Denny’s chowder would have won the contest if the judging had not been “blind?” Explain.
b. Although this was not an experiment, your answer to Part (a) helps to explain why those measuring the response in an experiment are often blinded. Using your answer in Part (a), explain why experiments are often blinded in this way.