Question

A biology student wants to determine if using a fertilizer would help promote the growth of new babies in spider plants. The student has access to 90 baby spider plants of three varieties: green, variegated, and curly. There are 30 plants of each variety. They all are potted in the same amount and type of soil, given the same amount of water, and exposed to the same amount of light. The numbers 1–30 are written on slips of paper, placed in a hat, and mixed thoroughly. A plant is selected and a slip of paper is drawn. If the slip has the numbers 1–15, then the plant will receive fertilizer. If the slip has the numbers 16–30, the plant will not receive fertilizer. A green spider plant is selected and a slip of paper is drawn. This plant is placed in the treatment group indicated by the number, and the slip is not put back in the bag. The slips are mixed again, the next green spider plant is selected, and a slip is drawn. The plant is placed in the treatment group indicated by the number. This procedure is repeated until all 30 green spider plants are assigned to treatments. The numbered slips are placed back in the bag and this procedure is repeated for the remaining types of spider plants. After one year, the shoots will be counted for each plant.
Which of the following best describes the design for this experiment?

observational study
matched pairs design
randomized block design
completely randomized design

Answer 1

Answer:

Randomized block design

Step-by-step explanation:

From the question, we can see the following:

- There are 30 plants of each variety. This means that they are divided into variety subgroups which we will call blocks.

- Now, we are told each plant in each block all are potted in the same amount and type of soil, given the same amount of water, and exposed to the same amount of light. This means that each plant in each block is assigned a treatment condition.

- The procedure is repeated by subjecting each plant one after the other in teach Block to different treatments and this will reduce variability.

Looking at all the statements above, it is clear that this is a randomized block design because a randomized block design is when the experimenter/researcher divides members/participants into subgroups called blocks in a manner that the variability within the blocks is less than the variability between the blocks. Thereafter, the participants within each block will now be randomly assigned to treatment conditions.

Answer 2

Answer:

Correct answer is Matched Pairs Design.

Step-by-step explanation:

Reason why I know this is right because I clicked the answer randomized block design and got it wrong. Plus, I was thinking the answer is most likely was matched pairs design.