4.2.14 From which of the following studies can cause-and- effect conclusions pot

Question

4.2.14 From which of the following studies can cause-and- effect conclusions potentially be drawn? If cause and effect can be determined, explain what may cause what. a. From a random sample of city residents, it was found that those with higher incomes utilize the recycling services significantly more than those with lower incomes. b. Students were randomly assigned to two groups. One group listened to music while taking a math test and one group did not. The one that did not listen to music scored significantly higher on the math test than the other. c. A teacher gave one of his classes a math test while music was playing and another without music playing The class that did not listen to music scored significantly higher on the math test than the other

Explanation / Answer

(a) A cause and effect relationship can be found in this situation. The study reveals that those residents who have higher incomes utilise the recycle services significantly more than the residents with lower incomes. There can be cause and effect relationship here as those who are earning more income can afford to buy the recyclable goods where as those with lower income will have to use the cheaper non-recyclable products. It also might be so that the residents with higher incomes will be better educated about the recycling techniques or may be part of social clubs which do effectively carry out such campaigns where as the low income group might not have the required knowledge or facilities to utilise the recycling services effectively.

(b) The study reveals that the student group that did not listen to music while taking the math test scored significantly higher the student group that listened to music while giving the test. Given that students were randomly assigned to the two groups there can be a cause and effect relationship between the two factors here. This effect can be attributed to the effect “listening to music while taking the math test”, as this might affect the concentration level that the students had while taking the test. Some students might have been distracted or would have made errors because there attention was diverted while taking the test because of the music while the other group had no disturbance of such sort. Thus, there might be causation here which made the second group score higher than the first group.

(c) There might not be a cause and effect relationship here because the students were not randomly assigned in the two groups. Even though one class scored significantly higher than the other we are not certain if the two classes were completely identical. It might be so that one class was simply more intelligent than the other or had better teachers when compared to the others which might in turn would have made them score better and the presence of music would have played little role in the outcomes of the test. Thus, there might be other underlying factors that will be causing the difference in the result and a true causation might not be present.

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