A psychiatrist is interested in determining if the condition of individuals who are clinically depressed improves with either 20 or 40 milligrams of Prozac. She administers 20 milligrams to a random half of her clients and 40 milligrams to the other half. She finds that, after six months, the clients who took 40 milligrams of Prozac are significantly less depressed than those clients who took 20 milligrams of Prozac. Which type of study did the psychiatrist conduct?
A) correlational research
B) experimental research
C) controlled research
D) hypothetical research

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The psychiatrist conducted an experiment where she manipulated the dosage of Prozac given to her clients and measured the outcome, which was the level of depression. Since she randomly assigned individuals to either the 20mg or 40mg group, she controlled for extraneous variables that could affect the results, making it a controlled experiment. Therefore, the correct answer is B, experimental research. Correlational research (A) measures the relationship between two variables without manipulation, and hypothetical research (D) does not involve real data or observations.

A Psychiatrist Is Interested in Determining If the Condition of Individuals