Question

matching: krusty krabs breath mints
mr. krabs created a secret ingredient for a breath mint that he thinks will \cure\ the bad breath people get from eating crabby patties at the krusty krab. he asked 100 customers with a history of bad breath to try his new breath mint. he had 50 customers (group a) eat a breath mint after they finished eating a crabby patty. the other 50 customers (group b) also received a breath mint after they finished the sandwich, however, it was just a regular breath mint and did not have the secret ingredient. both groups were told that they were getting the breath mint that would cure their bad breath. two hours after eating, 30 customers in group a and 10 in group b reported having better breath.

top row of labels: independent variable, dependent variable, experimental group, control group, constant variables
bottom row of items: people who did not get the secret ingredient, people who got the secret ingredient, crabby patties, number of people with bad breath, secret ingredient

Explanation:

• Independent Variable: The factor being tested, which is the presence/absence of the secret ingredient in the breath mint.
• Dependent Variable: The outcome being measured, which is the number of people reporting better breath (or remaining with bad breath).
• Experimental Group: The group given the treatment (secret ingredient mint) to test the hypothesis.
• Control Group: The group given a standard (regular mint, no secret ingredient) to compare against the experimental group.
• Constant Variables: Factors kept the same for all groups to ensure a fair test.

Answer:

• Independent Variable → Secret Ingredient
• Dependent Variable → Number of people with bad breath
• Experimental Group → People who got the secret ingredient
• Control Group → People who did not get the secret ingredient
• Constant Variables → crabby patties