?Tooth-Whitening Gum Smoking and drinking coffee have a tendency to stain teeth. In an effort to determine the ability of chewing gum to remove stains

Chapter 1, Problem 31

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Tooth-Whitening Gum Smoking and drinking coffee have a tendency to stain teeth. In an effort to determine the ability of chewing gum to remove stains on teeth, researchers conducted an experiment in which 64 bovine incisors (teeth) were stained with natural pigments such as coffee for 10 days. Each tooth was randomly assigned to one of four treatments: gum A, gum B, gum C, or saliva. Each tooth group was placed into a device that simulated a human chewing gum. The temperature of the device was maintained at body temperature and the tooth was in the device for 20 minutes. The process was repeated six times (for a total of 120 minutes of chewing). The researcher conducting the experiment did not know which treatment was being applied to each experimental unit. Upon removing a tooth from the chewing apparatus, the color change was measured using a spectrophotometer. The percentage of stain removed by each treatment after 120 minutes is as follows: Gum A, 47.6%; Gum B, 45.2%, Gum C, 21.4%, Saliva, 2.1%.

The researchers concluded that gums A and B removed significantly more stain than gum C or saliva. In addition, gum C removed significantly more stain than saliva.

Source: Michael Moore et al. “In Vitro Tooth Whitening Effect of Two Medicated Chewing Gums Compared to a Whitening Gum and Saliva,” BioMed Central Oral Health 8:23, 2008.

(a) Identify the research objective.

(b) Is this an observational study or designed experiment? Why?

(c) If observational, what type of observational study is this? If an experiment, what type of experimental design is this?

(d) What is the response variable?

(e) What is the explanatory variable? Is it qualitative or quantitative?

(f) Identify the experimental units.

(g) State a factor that could affect the value of the response variable that is fixed at a set level.

(h) What is the conclusion of the study?