A recent clinical study demonstrated a possible connection between coffee consum
ID: 203677 • Letter: A
Question
A recent clinical study demonstrated a possible connection between coffee consumption and heart health. The researchers performed a 6-week trial with 191 individuals, all of whom were heavy coffee drinkers (average of 5 cups/day) prior to the experiment, but none of whom were smokers. They divided the 191 participants into three groups: no coffee consumption, 1-3 cups/day, and 4 or more cups/day. They measured blood levels of cholesterol and homocysteine as indicators of heart health. Only the no-coffee group showed a significant drop in both indicators. Previous studies had demonstrated that decreases of the magnitude observed in the no-coffee group could cut the incidence of heart disease by 10-15%.
a) What is the problem/question being studied?
b) What is the hypothesis?
c) What is the experimental variable?
d) List the controls.
e) What is being measured to test the hypothesis?
Explanation / Answer
a) Problem of heart diseases is being studied.
b) hypothesis: to check the possible connection between coffee consumption and heart health.
c) variable : cups of coffee per day that were permit to drink.
d) controls: 4 or more cups/day coffee consumption by participants and experimental groups are coffee consumption by participants either 1-3 cups/day or no coffee consumption by participants, because they are those who changing their habbits.
e) levels of cholesterol and homocysteine is measured in blood as an indicatos of heart disease.