Blackworm Conspiracy

          

          I think this lab was a little frustrating. The worms kept moving, making it even more difficult than it already was to find and calculate the pulse rate. After gathering all the data from my fellow classmates, I decided to find the average of each individual group for each substance and as a whole. I found that the average rate for each substance was quite similar, which makes me think that the depressant and the stimulant didn't cause a great difference. For substance A the average was 21.71, for substance B it was 23.5 and for substance C it was 25, which lead me to conclude that substance A was the depressant, B was neutral and C the stimulant. Since the average of substance B was between that of A and C it made me believe that it was water because it wasn't the lowest nor the highest. I made several calculations in which I left out any data that I thought would compromise the average and each time, A had the lowest and C had the highest average while B always maintained its average between both. I draw my conclusions from the data that was recorded by my group and by other groups as well, but by doing so I create a gap for error. This error can be in the data itself since there are many outside factors that can change or interfere with the data. Not all groups had data for both days, which meant that this lack in data could affect the average in a negative way. Also the worms kept moving while groups were trying to find the pulse rate, which would end up with someone saying "Give or take two". Whether I am right or wrong, I believe my classmates and I did a pretty well job with this "mission impossible".



The Truth About the Substances:

All substances were the same. They were all water. Previous to this experiment we were informed that we had to figure out which, out of the three, was the depressant, stimulant and the neutral (water). With this knowledge we all thought we HAD to say which was which, this was to prove that knowing information previous to what you'll be doing on the experiment can sway a person's opinion although the data says otherwise. The data collected showed no statistically significant difference, meaning that the difference in pulse rate wasn't big enough to make it obvious which was actually which. This was to see if a double blind experiment (when the person giving the test and taking it don't know what they're giving or taking), could affect our results and our thoughts on the outcome, which it did. If we had not known that there could be a possibility of a depressant, stimulant or water, we would have thought that the pulse rates weren't different and that they seemed similar. Therefore, without the previous knowledge we would have been more likely to confirm, rather than hesitate to conclude, that all the substances were the same.