Question

In Exercises 33–36, identify which of these designs is most appropriate for the given experiment: completely randomized design, randomized block design, or matched pairs design

Lunesta Lunesta is a drug designed to treat insomnia. In a clinical trial of Lunesta, amounts of sleep each night are measured before and after subjects have been treated with the drug.

Short answer

The most appropriate design of the experiment is matched pairs design.

Step-by-step solution

Given information

A clinical trial aims to measure the amount of sleep before and after administering the drug Lunesta used to treat insomnia.

Types of experimental designs

Three kinds of experimental designs are available.

The presence of a set of units that can be randomly assigned to any group is best analyzed through acompletely randomized experiment.

The presence of two or more groups with similar characteristics and significant differences can be best analyzed through arandomized block design.

The presence of two distinct characteristics on the same set of individuals that need to be compared can be best analyzed through amatched pairs design

Identification of the type of design

The study compares the amount of sleep before and after administering the drug every night on the subjects. Here, the same subjects are measured at two different times. Therefore, the most appropriate design will be matched pairs design.