An occupational psychologist conducted a study to investigate whether room temperature affects the accuracy of professional copyeditors. An independent measures design was used with a sample of 12 copyeditors. Half of the participants proofread a standard document in a room maintained at a cool temperature of 18∘C18^\circ\text{C}18∘C, whilst the other half proofread the same document in a room maintained at a warm temperature of 26∘C26^\circ\text{C}26∘C. The number of typographical errors missed by each participant was recorded.
The data obtained from the study is presented in the table below.
| Cool Room (18∘C18^\circ\text{C}18∘C) | Warm Room (26∘C26^\circ\text{C}26∘C) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Participant | Errors missed | Participant | Errors missed |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| 6 | 2 | 6 | 9 |
Outline what is meant by the following feature of science and state how it applies to this study.
Manipulation of variables
