We encounter research information in many different places

Individual HW 1 - Do you Believe it?

Question #1:

We encounter research information in many different places, but one of the most common places is on social media. For this question, please find a social media post that makes a claim about a product or service you can purchase. This could be any social media post about a product that is trying to get you to believe a stated fact about the product. If you do not have a social media account, you can choose a news article or advertisement instead.

Briefly describe the post you have chosen. Please explain the following things:

1) where did you see the post? who created or made the post?

2) describe the post: what is the purpose of the post? what is the claim that the post is making? how do they make the claim they are making? Be sure to describe it with sufficient detail that the person reading this question could understand what the post was about.

Question #2:

Do you believe the claims they are making? Why or why not?

Question #3:

Design an experimental study that tests this claim. Remember, an experimental study must contain a variable that the researcher is actively manipulating or changing (the IV) and a dependent variable that they expect to change after they manipulate that variable. You can ignore ethical limitations here and design any study you want. Your answers should identify:

1) The independent variable in your study. How will you manipulate the independent variable?

2) The dependent variable.

3) Identify your hypothesis. What do you think will happen at the end of your study? will you be able to support the original claim made in the social media post?

Question #4:

Explain why the study you designed in the previous question is experimental (that is, what about your study design makes it an experimental study?).