Question

many people in the small midwestern town of hootville are stricken with the disease buggo. most of those stricken recover within seven to nine days. buggo has been shown to be caused by a bacterium called gotcha. antibiotic x is a new drug that has been shown to kill gotcha bacteria cultured in a test tube. antibiotic x was also found to cure dogs that were stricken with buggo. researchers decided to test the new drug on some of the people in hootville. they hypothesized that the drug would effectively cure buggo in humans. they thought that if they gave patients antibiotic x, the patients would recover more quickly than those who did not take the antibiotic. the researchers prepared tablets containing antibiotic x. they also prepared a second batch of tablets that did not have antibiotic x. a tablet that does not contain any medication is called a placebo. the researchers selected two groups of people who had just contracted the disease. twenty-five people in group a were given tablets with antibiotic x. twenty-five people in group b were given the placebos. twenty of the 25 people given the drug recovered within one day. the other 5 people in group a took from seven to nine days to recover – the normal recovery time for untreated patients. one of the people given the placebo recovered within one day. the other 24 people in group b took from seven to nine days to recover.

1. state the researchers’ hypothesis.
2. what is the control group?

Explanation:

Sub - question 1: State the researchers’ hypothesis.

The researchers' hypothesis is about the effect of antibiotic X on curing the disease Buggo. They thought that if patients were given antibiotic X, the patients would recover more quickly than those who did not take the antibiotic.

In an experiment, the control group is the group that does not receive the treatment (the antibiotic X in this case) and is used for comparison. Here, group B was given placebos (which do not contain the antibiotic X) while group A was given antibiotic X. So group B is the control group as it is used to compare the effect of the antibiotic X on the recovery rate.

1. Many people in the small Midwestern town of Hootville are stricken with the disease “Buggo”.
2. Most of those stricken with Buggo recover within seven to nine days.
3. Buggo has been shown to be caused by a bacterium called “Gotcha” and Antibiotic “X” is a new drug that has been shown to kill Gotcha bacteria cultured in a test tube and also found to cure dogs that were stricken with Buggo.

Answer:

If patients are given antibiotic X, the patients will recover more quickly than those who do not take the antibiotic.

Sub - question 2: What is the control group?