Fast Food Name ________
schmied/reid©2007 all rights reserved!
Scenario Period ____
Background Questions Scenario Part A
Thomas, Dina, Donna, and Helena are scientists who are very interested in finding ways to stop the obesity epidemic in children, particularly low income children. In their newest study they performed the following….
1. The scientists recruited sixty three 3 to 5 year old children and their parents for this study from the Head Start program. (a program for low income families)
2. The children were asked if they wanted to play a food tasting game. The children were told that they could stop at any time.
3. Communications were in English or Spanish according to the child's native language
4. The Researcher sat behind a screen where the child couldn't see them and reached around the screen and put different pairs of food items on a tray in front of the child and asked the child which food tasted best.
5. In the first trial the researcher put:
a. A quarter of a McDonald's hamburger wrapped in a McDonald's wrapper, with the red arches logo on it, one side of the tray, and on the other side,
b. A quarter of a McDonald's hamburger wrapped identically, except in a plain white wrapper on the other side of the tray.
The child was the asked to take a bite of the food and asked "Tell me if they taste
the same, or point to the food [drink] that tastes the best to you."
The data was recorded.
6. In the second trial the researcher put:
a. A Chicken McNugget in a McDonald's bag with the red arches logo, and on the other side,
b. an identical Chicken McNugget in a similarly sized plain white bag
The child was then asked to take a bite of the food and asked "Tell me if they taste
the same, or point to the food [drink] that tastes the best to you."
The data was recorded.
7. In the third trial the researcher put:
a. 3 McDonald's French fries in a McDonald's bag with a red arches logo, and on the other side,
b. 3 McDonald's French fries in a similarly sized plain white bag
The child was then asked to take a bite of the food and asked "Tell me if they taste
the same, or point to the food [drink] that tastes the best to you."
The data was recorded.
8. In the fourth trial the researcher put milk from a grocery store in:
a. A cup with a white McDonald's cup with lid and straw and
b. in a similarly sized plain white cup with lid and straw
The child was then asked to take a bite of the food and asked "Tell me if they taste
the same, or point to the drink that tastes the best to you."
9. In the final trial the researcher bought carrots from an grocery store and put
a. 2 baby carrots placed on top of a McDonalds french fries bag
b. 2 baby carrots on top of an identical, but plain white bag.
The child was then asked to take a bite of the food and asked "Tell me if they taste
the same, or point to the food [drink] that tastes the best to you."
The data was recorded.
Part B.
About midway through the first trial Thomas and Dina noticed that the research assistants were always putting the food with the McDonald's wrapper/logo on the right side of the child's tray.
Later Donna noticed that some of the children could see the research assistant's face when the carrot tests were being conducted.
Part C
The scientists worked hard and made all the changes needed to properly complete the experiment.
During the next 5 days the scientists tested the young children. Below is their data.
Observers/Operators: Frank and Dina
Data Table 1
Children's
Taste
Preferences
Food or Drink Item Plain Wrapper Tastes the Same or no Answer McDonalds' Plain Wrapper %
Tastes the Same or no Answer %
McDonalds %
Hamburger
22 9 29 Chicken McNuggets
11 14 36 French Fries
8 6 46 Milk
13 11 38 Carrots
14 14 33 Recorders: Donna and Helena
a. Create a CQC Data Table and complete the missing data. Note Add each individual row first! This is real data! Be sure to add up the total numbers for each trial and divide by the total responses as N = (total) when figuring out the percentages. Each trial may have slightly different percentages due to children choosing not to "play the food tasting game".
b. Now Bar Graph the percentage data.
Be sure to add up the total numbers for each trial and label the total as N = (total) on each trial.
Part D
Conclusion: Write out a properly formated Short Answer (brief conclusion) based upon Your Hypothesis and the data gathered by the scientists
Part E
14. Tell what types of errors were noted in Part B and also write out the other 4 types of error.
15. Rate the Reliability of this experiment's data. Explain why.
16. How would you rate the Validity of this experiment? Explain why.
