Sleep Experiment Essay

In experiments, scientists use certain variables and other defined parts of the experiment to examine relationships between cause and effect and obtain accurate results. The independent variable is the part of the experiment that is manipulated or changed between the control group and the experimental group in order to see how the end results are affected by the varying levels of the independent variable. The dependent variable is the variable that is being measured in the experiment, and it is directly affected by the independent variable. While the person conducting the experiment has full control over the independent variable, the dependent variable depends solely on the independent variable. An operational definition is a clearly defined …show more content…
All ten students will attend a class where they will be taught material and every day they will be tested on the material that they learned the day before. This study would be considered a correlational study because it is examining the relationship between the amount of sleep that the students will get and their performances on the tests they are given. The hypothesis that lack of sleep decreases performance will be supported by the data if the students who did not get a full night’s sleep make lower scores on their tests than the students who did get a full night’s sleep. Asking students to sleep for a certain amount of time and then assessing their performance may provide more accurate results as to how their lack of sleep affects their performance than just asking students how long they sleep and how well they do in school, possibly because the person conducting the experiment has more control over the habits of the students, and, therefore, full control over the independent variable. In this experiment, the independent …show more content…
The dependent variable is the grades that the students will make on their tests. As for operational definitions, ideally, the experiment would last for five days. During these five days, twelve college students, six men and six women ages eighteen through twenty-two will attend a class that lasts fifty minutes five consecutive days per week. Every day they have class, the students will be given a short five-question test to determine their performances on how well they were able to remember the material, comprehend the material if they studied it themselves, and how well they were able to pay attention in class the previous day. The group that gets a full night’s sleep will sleep for nine hours and the group that does not get a full night’s sleep will sleep for six hours. The group that sleeps for nine hours will