Question

The article "Dieters Should Use a Bigger Fork" (Food Network Magazine, January/February 2012) described an experiment conducted by researchers at the University of Utah. The article reported that when people were randomly assigned to either eat with a small fork or to eat with a large fork, the mean amount of food consumed was significantly less for the group that ate with the large fork. a. What are the two treatments in this experiment? b. In the context of this experiment, explain what it means to say that the mean amount of food consumed was significantly less for the group that ate with the large fork.

Short answer

a. The two treatments in this experiment are 'eating with a small fork' and 'eating with a large fork'. b. In this context, the mean amount of food consumed being significantly less for the group that ate with the large fork means that, on average, people who ate with a large fork consumed less food and this difference is statistically significant indicating a likely effect of fork size.

Step-by-step solution

Identify the Treatments

In this experiment, the treatments refer to the different conditions that participants are subjected to for the purpose of the study. From the given problem, the two treatments are 'eating with a small fork' and 'eating with a large fork'.

Interpret the Research Outcome

When the article states that the mean amount of food consumed was significantly less for the group that ate with the large fork, this means that on average, those who ate with a large fork ate less food than those who ate with a small fork. The word 'significantly' in this context implies that this result is not just a random variation, but is a statistically significant outcome that suggests a real effect of the fork size on the amount of food consumed.