Researchers from the Dept. of Fruit Crops at a university compared four different preservatives to be used in freezing strawberries. The researchers prepared the yield from a strawberry patch for freezing and randomly divided it into four equal groups. Within each group they treated the strawberries with the appropriate preservative and packaged them into eight small plastic bags for freezing at 0 degrees Celsius. The bags in group 1 served as a control group, while those in group 2, 3, 4 were assigned one of three newly developed preservatives. After all 32 bags of strawberries were prepared, they were stored at 0 degrees Celsius for a period of 6 months. At the end of this time, the contents of each bag were allowed to thaw and then rated on a scale of 1-10 for discoloration with the low score indicating little discoloration. Ratings: Group 1: 10, 8, 7.5, 8, 9.5, 9, 7.5, 7 Group 2: 6, 7.5, 8, 7, 6.5, 6, 5, 5.5 Group 3: 3, 5.5, 4, 4.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5 Group 4: 2, 1, 2.5, 3, 4, 3.5, 2, 2
Questions:
a. Compare the discoloration in the control group to the average in the three experimental groups, as a group. State your conclusion.