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So I am doing the power of suggestion science experiment, and here is my basic idea- i am in a room with a few rows of people sitting in chairs in front of me. i have a small table next to me with a covered jar on it. i tell the people there is a substance inside that has a strong smell, but it might smell different depending on how good their olfactory sense is. i open the jar and i ask people to raise their hand when they smell it. hopefully people in the front raise their hands first, then behind them, then behind them. this whole time i offer suggestions that imply it might take a while for the smell to reach them. afterwards, i individually interview them and ask what they smelled. My only problem with this project is that i have NO IDEA what the independent variable or dependent variables would be. PLEASE HELP- this was due a few days ago.
Thanks,
Sixth grader that needs some help
Power of suggestion- what are my variables?
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Re: Power of suggestion- what are my variables?
Hi Es,
As a reminder, the independent variable is what you’re changing in the experiment while the dependent variable is what you’re measuring. From your description, it sounds like your dependent variable is the difference between their initial response (when in the rows) and their response when you individually interview them. Your independent variable- what you’re changing- is the situation in which they’re asked what they smell, so whether it was in the rows or individually. Is this the experiment you’re referring to: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#summary ? I’m unsure how your suggestion “it might smell different depending on how good their olfactory sense is” will influence people on their choice of the smell. Perhaps when you individually interview half the people, you can suggest what the smell was and see how many people then say that was what they smelled. For the other half of the people you could not suggest anything and see how many people stick to their first choice. Then the variables would be different: the independent would be whether or not the individual was given the suggestion, and the dependent variable would be whether or not they changed their answer.
Hope this helps,
C.M.
As a reminder, the independent variable is what you’re changing in the experiment while the dependent variable is what you’re measuring. From your description, it sounds like your dependent variable is the difference between their initial response (when in the rows) and their response when you individually interview them. Your independent variable- what you’re changing- is the situation in which they’re asked what they smell, so whether it was in the rows or individually. Is this the experiment you’re referring to: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#summary ? I’m unsure how your suggestion “it might smell different depending on how good their olfactory sense is” will influence people on their choice of the smell. Perhaps when you individually interview half the people, you can suggest what the smell was and see how many people then say that was what they smelled. For the other half of the people you could not suggest anything and see how many people stick to their first choice. Then the variables would be different: the independent would be whether or not the individual was given the suggestion, and the dependent variable would be whether or not they changed their answer.
Hope this helps,
C.M.