A dog food company wants to compare a new lower-calorie food with their standard dog food to see if it's effective in helping inactive dogs maintain a healthy weight. They have found several dog owners willing to participate in the trial. The dogs have been classified as small, medium, or large breeds, and the company will supply some owners of each size of dog with one of the two foods. The owners have agreed not to feed their dogs anything else for a period of 6 months, after which the dogs' weights will be checked.
Read each brief report of statistical research, and identify
a) Whether it was an observational study or an experiment.
If it was an observational study, identify (if possible)
b) Whether it was retrospective or prospective.
c) The subjects studied and how they were selected.
d) The parameter of interest.
e) The nature and scope of the conclusion the study can reach.
If it was an experiment, identify (if possible)
b) The subjects studied.
c) The factor(s) in the experiment and the number of levels for each.
d) The number of treatments.
e) The response variable measured.
f) The design (completely randomized, blocked, or matched).
g) Whether it was blind (or double-blind).
h) The nature and scope of the conclusion the experiment can reach.