A medical researcher is interested in testing a new medicine for migraine headaches. She selects an SRS of 100 adults who get migraines at a rate of one or more per week. Half of the selected adults will receive the new medicine while half will receive a placebo. The researcher will compare all results.

Determine if the study is an experiment or an observational study. Give a reason for your answer.

It is an observational study

Explanation:

It should be understood that an observational study is an empirical but non-experimental investigation of the effects caused by a treatment.

In this aspect, the researchers observe the effect of a risk factor, diagnostic test, treatment or other intervention without trying to change who is or isn't exposed to it. The  simply collect data based on what is seen and heard and infer based on the data collected.

In this case, the medical researcher was trying to know the effect of the new medicine by observing the reactions of the participants to the drug. He also made use of placebo to serve as a control.

Note that, placebo is made to look exactly like a real drug but is made of an inactive substance, such as a starch or sugar, and use in research studies.

They  are used in studies in order to find out whether or not the pharmacological effect of a drug actually includes pain relief or whether the effects produced by the drug might be related to psychological processes that are generically called the placebo effect.