Question

1.21 You are concerned about the effects of texting on driving performance. Design a study to test the response time

of drivers while texting and while driving only. How many seconds does it take for a driver to respond when a leading

car hits the brakes?

a. Describe the explanatory and response variables in the study.

b. What are the treatments?

c. What should you consider when selecting participants?

d. Your research partner wants to divide participants randomly into two groups: one to drive without distraction and

one to text and drive simultaneously. Is this a good idea? Why or why not?

e. Identify any lurking variables that could interfere with this study.

f. How can blinding be used in this study?

Short answer

(a) Explanatory variable=Texting at the time of driving.

Response variable=Response time of drivers.

(b) Presence and absence of texting while driving by drivers are the treatments.

(c) it is most important to consider the drivers with similar driving skills to participate in the study.

(d) Not a good idea.

(e) Lurking variables are

-Different age groups of drivers

-different gender drivers

-Experienced drivers

-Personal behaviour towards traffic.

(f) any prejudice on the side of the researcher would be eliminated.

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. (a) Explanation

Explanatory variable=Texting at the time of driving.

Response variable=Response time of drivers.

Step 2. (b) Explanation

Presence and absence of texting while driving by drivers are the treatments.

Step 3. (c) Explanation

Driving skills of people irrespective of age and men and women are different from each other.

So, it is most important to consider the drivers with similar driving skills to participate in the study.

Step 4. (d) Explanation

It is not a practical alternative to separate participants into two groups and have them drive simultaneously, one with texting and the other without texting, because driving skills are directly tied to one's personal attributes. The disparities found could be attributable to more than just texting; they could also be due to one's personal characteristics. The ideal technique to do this type of study is to use a single sample. This sample starts with no texting and then switches to texting mode. In this case, the same subject's two scores can be compared, excluding the influence of personal characteristics.

Step 5. (e) Explanation

Lurking variables are

-Different age groups of drivers

-different gender drivers

-Experienced drivers

-Personal behaviour towards traffic.

Step 6. (f) Explanation

The researcher who takes note of the two response times must be unaware of which reading occurs while texting and which occurs while driving only. This is how any prejudice on the side of the researcher would be eliminated.