Determine whether the study depicts an observational study or an experiment. a scientist was studying the effects of a new fertilizer on crop yield. she randomly assigned half of the plots on a farm to group one and the remaining plots to group two. on the plots in group one, the new fertilizer was used for a year. on the plots in group two, the old fertilizer was used. at the end of the year the average crop yield for the plots in group one was compared with the average crop yield for the plots in group two.