INSTRUCTION
Choose an online news article that examines the benefit of some food, food components, or diet plan. You can go go Google News and do a search on a specific topic you’re interested in. Or you can just browse the health section of any news site and find an article. (Has to be within last week or current) News Article from the news in the United States. DO NOT USE GARCINIA CAMBOGIA
QUESTIONS
Link to article:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-02-tackles-obesity-nutrition-literacy-soccer.htmlLi
What is the hypothesis of the study described in the news article?
Researchers hypothesized that a change of health among school children can be caused by rise in physical activity through playing soccer as well as health education.
Why is the study described in the article important?
Obesity rates among children are rising, and physical activity plays a role in the increase of weight(Ul-Haq, Mackay, Fenwick, & Pell, 2013). There are health risks associated with obesity and therefore this article is important to ensure opitaml well being among children. Health conditions that are associated with overweight/obese children include sleep apnea, gallbladder disease, elevated liver enzymes, polycystic ovarian disease, and orthopedic problems(Ul-Haq et al., 2013).
List two critical flaws of the study(studies) in the article.
One flaw is that they focus on physical activity in the form of one sport, soccer. This is problematic because not all children, can be active in the form of playing soccer or may not have interest in this sport, but another sport such as basketball. Children with disabilities can not engage in soccer and there should be an alternative.
Another flaw is that the health literacy program is not culturally sensitive and does not address the issue that the low income children may not have access to the healthy foods that the education program is requesting children eat. Therefore this may only be effective in certain groups.
Is the article a correlational study or does it also provide a causational study? Explain your answer.
It could be considered a causation study because they are controlling factors and using an intervention to see if their program increases health. However it does not state wheter or not randomization of program has taken place so the relationships viewed may only be correlated because they are not controlling for baseline differences such as socieoecnomic status that may be influencing the results.
Propose one experiment to strengthen the hypothesis.
I would of used a randomization design in the study. Randomization reduces the chance of baseline differences, which allows for a more valid way to compare the two groups as their variation within appear similar-- this makes it so that the analysis is able to accurately identify variables that directly impact the outcome variable and determine the efficacy of the intervention(Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2013, p. 318). In other words, randomization allows the researcher to analyze with increased certainty to draw comparisons between control and treatment group that can be explained by the intervention rather than preexisting characteristics
Lab Report
1. Most of the energy from the sun is in the form of visible light. T Testable
2. Elves live in the woods in West Virginia. T Testable
3. Shakespeare wrote beautiful poems. N Not testable
4. Diamond is harder than kevlar. . T Testable
5. Diamond is more beautiful than ruby. N Not testable
6 Detergent A cleans clothes better than Detergent B. . T Testable
7 Coke tastes better than Pepsi. N Not testable
8 Invisible fairies turn the grass green every spring. N Not testable
9 Birds are interesting. N Not testable
10 Bird-watching is one of the most popular leisure activities among Americans. T Testable
Identify the independent and dependent variables in each of the following experiments. Also, state one possible control variable and a possible hypothesis for these experiments.
Batches of seeds are soaked in salt solutions of different concentrations. Germination is counted for each batch.
Independent: Salt solution concentration
Dependent Variable: Germination
Control Variable N/A
Hypothesis: Those with higher salt solutions will germinate slower. Salinity in soil or weaken is one of the mayor emphasize and especially in arid and semi barren regions, can severely limit crop production . Salinity decrease seed germination, impair nodule forming, retardation vegetable development and impair fruit yield .
2. Guinea pigs are kept at different temperatures for 6 weeks. At the end of the experiment, percent weight gain is recorded.
1. Independent Variable : Temperature
2. Dependent Variable : Weight
3.Control:
4. Hypothesis: Those who are kept at a higher temperature will loose more weight because heat burns calories faster.
3. BPA levels in the blood are measured over time after the consumption of one Campbell Tomato Soup.
1. Independent Variable : Campbell soup
2. Dependent Variable : BPA Levels
3.Control:
4. Hypothesis: The chemical, also known as bisphenol BPA is commonly found in canned goods, thus I would hypothesize that the BPA levels in the blood will increase overtime.
Compound A (100 mg/day) was given orally to 200 patients with high blood pressure (higher than 140/80) for one month. Blood pressure was determined three times every day during the period
1. Independent Variable : Compound A
2. Dependent Variable : Blood pressure
3.Control: Not receiving Compound A
4. Hypothesis: The compound is most likely made to help lower blood pressure, so I hypothesize those patients who were given compound A will have a higher percent change in blood pressure.
Examples
1. The more firemen are fighting a fire, the bigger the fire is observed to be. Therefore, firemen cause a fire. Correlation does not mean causation; the firemen happen to be there because of the fire this occurs before the presence of the firemen so though the fire getting larger may be related to some firemen the order of the relationship implies one is not caused by the other. C causes both A and B (common causal factor), there is a common causal factor here which is fire – fire causes more fireman and often putting out a fire leads to spreading which then results in the need for more firemen.
2. As ice cream sales increase, the rate of drowning deaths increases sharply. Therefore, ice cream causes drowning.
Again this fails to address the issue of timing. Ice cream is commonly sold during the summer when the temperature is higher, and people are more likely to engage in activities such as swimming. The increase in drowning rates are caused by the growth in swimming which happens to occur in the summer, the same time yet unrelated to the purchase of ice cream
at a much greater rate than during colder times, and it is during these hot
3. Since the 1950s both the atmospheric CO2 level and obesity levels have increased dramatically. Hence, atmospheric CO2 causes obesity.
This relates to the issue of A causes B: B is caused only by A (bidirectional causation). In
Since the invention of the car both a decrease in walking and increase in co2 has occurred. Therefore, sales of cars cause less walking which then causes obesity.
4. Women taking combined hormone replacement therapy also had a lower-than-average incidence of coronary heart diseases. Therefore, the combined hormone replacement therapy prevents coronary heart diseases.
This is a cause of spurious relationship. It appears A causes B however, there is a confounding factor which is most likely related to access to healthcare. Higher access leads to preventive measures which lead to lower heart disease. Thus, healthcare is moderation this relation.
5. Young children who sleep with the light on are much more likely to develop myopia in later life. Therefore, sleeping with the light on causes myopia.
This is a situation where. A and B seem correlated, but they are both caused by a third factor C.
. In other words, reasons of both variables is due to condition.
6. People who had sex at least twice a week had a better-than-average health status. Therefore, sex makes people healthier.
Again this is a situation where A causes B: B is caused only by A (bidirectional causation). Healthier people may have sex cause they are physically able and having sex increases physical ability.
7. Many brains obtained from patients who had Alzheimerʼs Disease show extensive neuronal death. Also, the brains show amyloid plaques. Therefore, amyloid plaques cause neuronal death.
This is related to the explanation that A causes B: C causes B, etc. Neuron death is caused by different factors. However, in this case, such factors are similar. So a causes neuron death, and neuron death causes amyloid plaques.
8. Autism disorders have been on the rise since the late 1990s. Also, organic food sales have been on the increase during the same period. Therefore, autism disorders are caused by organic food.
These appear to be correlated but are simply coincidental. Since the timing of both autism and organic food are in the same sample, there is a chance the two seems related as a result of being part of the same population but are not related.
Reference:
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2013). Research Methods in Education: Taylor & Francis.
Ul-Haq, Z., Mackay, D. F., Fenwick, E., & Pell, J. P. (2013). Meta-analysis of the association between body mass index and health-related quality of life among children and adolescents, assessed using the pediatric quality of life inventory index. The Journal of pediatrics, 162(2), 280-286. e281.
