Imagine a researcher investigating the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance. They hypothesize that participants who are sleep-deprived will perform significantly worse on a cognitive task than those who are not deprived of sleep.

The researcher recruits 60 college students, randomly assigning them to one of two conditions: a sleep-deprivation group (which stays awake for 24 hours) and a control group (which sleeps normally). After the manipulation, both groups complete a standardized cognitive task measuring attention and reaction time.

Your task is to design this experiment. In your response, describe how you would ensure that your experimental design is robust, including how you would select participants, how you would operationalize sleep deprivation, and how you’d control for various confounding variables. Additionally, address potential ethical concerns related to sleep deprivation in research.