Individuals with arachnophobia (fear of spiders, including SpiderMan) may seek out therapy to eliminate this fear....

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Individuals with arachnophobia (fear of spiders, including SpiderMan) may seek out therapy to eliminate this fear. A study was conducted to determine whether the drug StarkTech01, used with fewer therapy sessions, would help people overcome this fear. Without medication, most people would be expected to need 7-8 therapy sessions to overcome arachnophobia. Each of 30 people who participated in the study received a pill before each of two therapy sessions. 12 of the 30 people were randomly assigned to receive a StarkTech01 pill, and the remaining 18 people received a placebo. After the two therapy sessions, none of the 30 people received additional pills or therapy. Three months after the administration of the pills and the two therapy sessions, each of the 30 people was evaluated to see if he or she had improved. a. Was this study an experiment or an observational study? Provide an explanation to support your answer. b. When the data were analyzed, the group who received StarkTech01 showed statistically significantly more improvement than the placebo group did. Based on this result, would the researchers be justified in concluding that the StarkTech01 pill and two therapy sessions are as beneficial as eight therapy sessions without the pill? Justify your answer. c. A newspaper article that summarized the results of this study did not explain how it was determined which people received StarkTech01 and which received the placebo. Suppose the researchers allowed the therapists to choose which people received StarkTech01 and which received the placebo, and no randomization was used. Explain why such a method of assignment might lead to an incorrect conclusion. Individuals with arachnophobia (fear of spiders, including SpiderMan) may seek out therapy to eliminate this fear. A study was conducted to determine whether the drug StarkTech01, used with fewer therapy sessions, would help people overcome this fear. Without medication, most people would be expected to need 7-8 therapy sessions to overcome arachnophobia. Each of 30 people who participated in the study received a pill before each of two therapy sessions. 12 of the 30 people were randomly assigned to receive a StarkTech01 pill, and the remaining 18 people received a placebo. After the two therapy sessions, none of the 30 people received additional pills or therapy. Three months after the administration of the pills and the two therapy sessions, each of the 30 people was evaluated to see if he or she had improved. a. Was this study an experiment or an observational study? Provide an explanation to support your answer. b. When the data were analyzed, the group who received StarkTech01 showed statistically significantly more improvement than the placebo group did. Based on this result, would the researchers be justified in concluding that the StarkTech01 pill and two therapy sessions are as beneficial as eight therapy sessions without the pill? Justify your answer. c. A newspaper article that summarized the results of this study did not explain how it was determined which people received StarkTech01 and which received the placebo. Suppose the researchers allowed the therapists to choose which people received StarkTech01 and which received the placebo, and no randomization was used. Explain why such a method of assignment might lead to an incorrect conclusion.