The Magic of the Placebo (Eric Mead)

1. Watch the following TED presentation videos:

The Magic of the Placebo (Eric Mead)

https://www.ted.com/talks/eric_mead_the_magic_of_the_placebo

Homeopathy, Quackery, and Fraud (James Randi)

https://www.ted.com/talks/james_randi

2. In the first paragraph of the discussion post, students should describe what they found the most intellectually intriguing and perhaps even surprising about the videos.

3. In the next section of the discussion post, student should try their best to test a concept addressed in one of the videos using the following steps:

1. create a research question related to one of the topics the TED speakers addressed.
2. explain what your independent and dependent variable would be.
3. explain what extraneous variables could impact the study.

4. When responding to students this week, contribute to their research design by critically analyzing it and offering your advice.