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Lady Tasting Coffee

A Case Study in Experimental Design

By Jacinth Maynard, Mary Puterbaugh Mulcahy, Daniel Kermick

Lady Tasting Coffee


 

Abstract

In the 1920s, biologist and statistician Ronald Fisher met a woman who claimed she could taste whether a cup of tea was prepared by adding milk before or after the tea. Fisher’s essay about the tea party may be one of the first cases published to teach the process of science. The present case is a modernized version of Fisher’s story and concerns the ability of a woman to distinguish between cups of coffee with milk added first or second. The case is enhanced by a demonstration in which students distinguish between 2% and skim milk, brands of bottled water, or brands of soda.

   

Date Posted

08/19/2009

Overview

Objectives

  • Understand concepts of experimental design, especially randomization, replication, and the probability of obtaining extreme results by chance.
  • Be able to state the null hypothesis for a simple experiment.
  • Design a simple experiment including select samples and apply treatments, establish the level of significance, and make appropriate conclusions based on significance levels.

Keywords

Experimental design; randomization; probability; statistics; Ronald Fisher

  

Subject Headings

Biology (General)
Statistics

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

High school, Undergraduate lower division

  

FORMAT

PDF, PowerPoint

   

TOPICAL AREAS

History of science, Scientific method

   

LANGUAGE

English

   

TYPE/METHODS

Demonstration, Interrupted

 

 

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