Recall Question 4.1.1 about intrinsic motivation and position in the classroom. Which of these is the explanatory variable? 

A. The classrooms 

B. The health science students 

C. The researchers 

D. The distance the student sat from the front of the room 

E. The student’s intrinsic motivation score 

F. The questionnaire

Data from Question 4.1.1

A study done in France (Uffler et al., 2017) explored whether there is an association between a student’s intrinsic motivation and where they sit in class. More specifically, they studied 593 health science students (mostly nursing students) in 9 different classrooms by giving them a questionnaire that measured their intrinsic motivation. (Those that are intrinsically motivated do things because that is naturally satisfying to them and they don’t need an external reward.) The researchers also noted the distance each student sat from the front of the class. The researchers found that students who sat closer to the front of the class tended to have higher intrinsic motivation scores. In this context, what are the observational units?