“Boozy Bees May Offer Clues About Pickled People” describes a study in which bees were given various amounts of alcohol, while some bees were given plain sugar water. Researchers noted that the alcohol killed some of the bees, and it also affected some of the bees’ behavior in terms of sociability and industriousness.
a. Was this an experiment, an observational study, or a sample survey?
b. Was there a control group? If so, describe it.
c. The researchers actually were interested in learning more about how alcohol affects humans. Explain why they studied bees instead.
d. If a researcher must assess how sociable a bee is, is it important for the researcher to be unaware of how much alcohol (if any) the bee consumed?
e. If a researcher must assess whether or not a bee survived the study, is it important for the researcher to be unaware of how much alcohol (if any) the bee consumed?
f. It is reported that alcohol killed some of the bees. Would these results be summarized with a mean or with a proportion?