Closed-Course Driving Experiment

The idea that driving while talking on a cell phone impairs one 's driving ability has been in great discussion over the past years. Many researchers have conducted surveys and experimental trials to test the results of this issue that has lead to many fatalities related to motor vehicle accidents. The question is, how do you go about conducting an experiment that can prove this positive correlation? A control is the most important factor in this experimental design. The control is the experimental factors designed to eliminate any variables that could affect the results through bias reasonings or skewed data. The subjects must be placed in appropriate conditions, with equal treatment, and with the use of a proper control experiment.

Most importantly, this course and the vehicle used would have to be certified and tested for safety before and after each use by a research subject. The subject would have to go through a five minute training session that would explain the precautions taken if an accident were to occur and this would be followed by signing a release form that would protect the researchers rights from being liable. The test subject would go through two trials of the experiment, one while talking on the phone and the other while not talking on the phone. These trials must be under the same conditions for each subject. For example - the time of day would have to be around the same time during each trial, car radios / music players must be shut off during the test, and the only passenger present would be an experimenter that records reaction times and driving behaviors. The course will begin at the same place and end at the same place. The data will all be recorded in relation to each subjects driving behaviors and then compared and statistically analyzed by an experimenter to determine whether these correlations exist or