The independent variable and dependent variable
The Independent variable in this study scenario is the type of pill used. The kind of pill is controlled or changed in an experiment to determine the effects on the group that feel sleepy and the other that will feel awake and alert. According to McLeod (2019), independent variables are the tested conditions. The investigators have the freedom to control or change the independent variable. It is assumed that the independent variable influences the dependent variable directly (McLeod, 2019). McLeod (2019) notes that in an experiment, the investigators are mainly concerned with the likely effects on the changing or controlling of the independent variable have on the dependable variable. In this study, the investigators instructed the 50 insomnia suffers from taking a pill that would have different outcomes
Dependable variables are the variables being tested or measured in a given experiment. It is what is likely to be directly affected when experimenting. Dependent variables depend on the independent variable. It is impossible to have a scientific analysis where the independent variable lacks the dependent variable. Dependent variables in the study scenario are being “sleepy and remaining “awake and alert. These are the dependable variables being measured and tested in the experiment. Several dependent variables in this experiment help to answer more than one research question. From the instructions, the participants would expect varying results from taking the pills although they were the same pills that contain a placebo or milk powder
The numbers of levels in the independent variable are the precise situations as a result of the manipulation (Stangor, 2015). A level means that the independent variable can be split up to different parts. The two levels in the study scenario are, therefore, the alert pill and the sleepy pill.
Whether the research used between participants or within the partisan research design
The research employed a between participants research design. In this design, participants are allowed to be part of the control group or treatment group, but they are restricted from taking part in both. It means that testing involving more than a single treatment; a new different group has to be involved. Using between-subjects design is advantageous in this scenario as it gives the investigators an opportunity to experiment with minimal contaminations by unrelated factors (Stangor, 2015). Between subjects, the design requires only one person to be subjected or involved in a singular treatment. The study scenario demonstrates between participants research design in the sense that half of the participants took only the sleepy pill and were expected to give feedback on how soon they fell asleep. The other 25 participants were each given different pill i.e., the awake and alert pill, and requested to indicate their experience with their drugs.
Addition of the third condition
In a scenario where F was significant as applied to this study, it becomes challenging to interpret the impact or significance of F (Stangor, 2015). This situation is further complicated when levels of independent variables are more than one. Similar to a one-way experiment containing two levels alone, and several levels involved, the significant F would show variations on the dependent variable for the level. Therefore, it is possible to reject the null proposition or hypothesis. The challenge of working with several levels relating to the significant F is that the means that differ with each other are not told.