Improve student ability to assess research findings in published papers
Critique representations and interpretations of original research
Increase awareness of experimental design
Encourage collaboration and team-based learning (TBL)
April 1, 2016
Improve student ability to assess research findings in published papers
Critique representations and interpretations of original research
Increase awareness of experimental design
Encourage collaboration and team-based learning (TBL)
Students read the Diner Beware Study of Studies (column published by the Atlantic magazine) out loud
Assigned one of the 12 research articles to be skimmed and assessed in groups
Compare the findings of the original research article with the summary presented in the Study of Studies
Synthesize findings and present to instructor and classmates through RPubs (platform for sharing R Markdown documents)
Publication: International Journal of Hospitality Management
Study of Studies' claims: "Particular scents also have an effect: diners who got a whiff of lavender stayed longer and spent more than those who smelled lemon, or no scent"
Students asked to assess this finding and compare with Guéguen and Petr's conclusions
Purpose: Analyze the effect of scent (lemon and lavender) on length of time and amount of money spent by customers in a restaurant
Subjects: 88 patrons of a small pizzeria in France
Experiment: Study carried out from 8 pm to 11 pm on three Saturdays in May
Hypothesis: Lavender is considered a relaxing odor while lemon is stimulating
"The results confirmed the hypothesis that scents have an influence on customers' behavior. The study found that both length of time and the amount of money spent were positively affected by lavender. However, the lemon aroma was found to have no effect on either the above two variables" - from Guéguen and Petr's Discussion section.