Doctors are interested in seeing if lifting weights to alleviate back pain is effective. Twenty five volunteers are asked to ran
k their level of pain on a scale from one to ten. For the next two months, they then exercise for 2 months with a physical therapist. The volunteers focus on different weight lifting exercises that strengthen the back. Twenty five volunteers are again asked to rank their level of pain on a scale from one to ten. Was the amount of pain less after completing the exercises? What type of test would they conduct to test this claim?
In the scenario described above, the 25 sampled individuals were used to test the effect of weightlifting on alleviating back pain. The samples used were not changed nor altered during the study as the same subjects who were tested to measure their level of pain before lifting weight were the same group subjected to the actual weight lifting test and again had their level of pain tested. Since only one group was involved in the study ( a single group was tested on neutral and actual treatment). Hence, the study used dependent samples to compare the average level of pain.
