Question

A research study including 200 pregnant women ages 25 to 42 who will be on a restricted diet from the beginning of the pregnancy to the end of it (10 months). 100 of those women already have a child from a previous pregnancy with autism and the other 100 have never had any children with autism. The research study is to see if there is a correlation of eating habits and autism in their unborn children to see if a mothers eating habits increase/decrease the chances of having a child with autism?

What are the variables, method of research, and operational definations in this study?

Answer 1

Independent variable is the eating habits of the pregnant women.

Dependent variable is the chance of having a child with autism

Here the design used is criterion group ex-post facto design. The sample consisted of 200 pregnant women (25-42 years), 100 who had a child with autism before and 100 who did not have a child with autism.

operation definition

Autism: It is a disorder which is present from the childhood, where the child finds difficulty in making a social relationship and communicate with others. It is a condition that develops in the womb of the mother and can be avoided if necessary precautions are taken. Engaging the mother in an appropriate diet can reduce the chance of having an autistic child.