Homework Assignment 4 example
Article:
Vitamin E fails to stop progress of AlzheimerÕs
April 19th, 2005 by Nicolas Bakalar
Source: New York Times
NOTE: you cannot use this article for the homework assignment
I. Goal: To determine whether taking Vitamin E slows progression of AlzheimerÕs
II. Model being tested:
Model 1: Vitamin E slows progression of AlzheimerÕs disease
Model 2: Vitamin E does not slow progression of AlzheimerÕs disease
III. Design Features:
1. Experiment:
a) what done: participants were assigned to receive Vitamin E or a placebo
b) for what purpose: to determine the effects of Vitamin E on the rate of pogression of AlzheimerÕs disease
(you can answer this all in 1 simple sentence, just address both parts a and b)
2. Controls:
a) was the experiment controlled? Yes
b) Treatment group = people who took Vitamin E
c) Control group = people who took a placebo
3. quotes: ÒAt the end of one year, significant differences appeared: 38 patients in the placebo group and 33 in the vitamin E group had AlzheimerÕs, compared with only 16 in the Aricept group. But among the 214 patients who progressed to AlzheimerÕs over the entire 3 year course of the study, there was no significant difference among the three test groups.Ó
NOTE: Placebo will be accepted as evidence that study was done blindly.