A scientific investigation was conducted with 20 cyclists to determine whether caffeine can increase stamina - NSC Life Sciences - Question 3 - 2017 - Paper 1
Question 3
A scientific investigation was conducted with 20 cyclists to determine whether caffeine can increase stamina.
The procedure was as follows:
- The group of cyclists... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A scientific investigation was conducted with 20 cyclists to determine whether caffeine can increase stamina - NSC Life Sciences - Question 3 - 2017 - Paper 1
Step 1
State the question that the scientists were trying to answer through this investigation.
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Answer
The scientists were trying to determine whether caffeine consumption can increase the stamina of the cyclists.
Step 2
Identify:
(a) Independent variable
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Answer
The independent variable is the amount of caffeine present in the coffee.
Step 3
(b) Dependent variable and how it was measured
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Answer
The dependent variable is stamina, which was measured by the average duration of cycling.
Step 4
What is the relationship between caffeine consumption and the stamina of the cyclists?
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Answer
The average cycling time of the cyclists increased with the use of coffee containing caffeine, indicating a positive relationship between caffeine consumption and stamina.
Step 5
Explain the purpose of giving the cyclists decaffeinated coffee to drink.
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Decaffeinated coffee serves as a control to eliminate any other factors that may cause an increase in stamina, allowing for a comparison to the results from drinking coffee with caffeine.
Step 6
The participants were NOT told whether or not they drank caffeinated coffee.
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Not informing the participants may influence their performance, as they might subconsciously expect to perform differently based on whether they think they are consuming caffeine or not.
Step 7
The procedure does not indicate how much time passed between each cycling exercise.
Explain why this is an important factor to know.
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If too little time passes between the exercise tests, participants may be fatigued from the first test and not perform at their full capacity in the second test. This could affect the validity of the investigation by skewing the results.
