The farmer’s experiment was widely considered to be well-designed and well-implemented. After 8 weeks, he found no difference between groups, and the berry harvest was still lower than in previous years. What can he conclude about his hypothesis?
Rodents are eating the berries
Birds are eating the berries
Birds are not eating the berries
The results do not address the hypothesis
The correct answer and explanation is :
Correct Answer: Birds are not eating the berries.
Explanation:
The farmer conducted a well-designed and well-implemented experiment to test a specific hypothesis—presumably that birds are responsible for the decline in berry harvests. Though the original hypothesis isn’t directly stated in the question, the conclusion must be based on how the experimental results relate to the suspected cause.
From the information provided:
- The experiment was sound (well-designed and implemented).
- It ran for 8 weeks—long enough to detect trends.
- No difference was found between groups (likely a control group and a treatment group, such as one where birds were excluded or deterred).
- The berry harvest remained lower than in previous years.
If no difference was found between the group exposed to birds and the group protected from birds, and the harvest was still low, then birds could not have been the cause of the lower berry yield. If birds were indeed eating the berries, the group shielded from birds would have had a noticeably better harvest. Because that didn’t happen, the logical conclusion is that birds are not eating the berries—or at least, they are not the main cause of the poor harvest.
This leads us to reject the hypothesis that birds are the culprit. The data rules out birds as a significant factor, assuming all other variables were well-controlled.
While rodents or other causes might still be responsible, the experiment doesn’t directly test those alternatives. It only allows the farmer to rule out birds based on the data.
Thus, the most accurate and evidence-supported conclusion is: Birds are not eating the berries.