Question

An urban planner examines police-report data for many cities and towns and discovers that cities with professional football teams tend to have higher numbers of reported small crimes, such as burglary.

Which statement best explains the effect of confounding in this relationship?

A.) The football teams are a direct cause of increased small crimes.
B.) In cities without football teams, the small crimes often go unreported.
C.) Cities without football teams most likely have lower rates of reported small crimes.
D.) Cities with football teams tend to be large, which means they have more reported small crimes.

Answer 1

D) Cities with football teams tend to be large, which means they have more reported small crimes.

Explanation:

Confounding refers to the phenomenon in which an apparent relationship between two variables is actually caused by the influence of a third, confounding variable. In this case, it is possible that the relationship between the presence of a football team and the number of reported small crimes is confounded by the size of the city. It is possible that cities with football teams tend to be larger, and larger cities generally have more reported small crimes, regardless of whether they have a football team. This could explain the apparent relationship between football teams and small crimes. It is important for researchers to consider and control for potential confounding variables in order to accurately interpret the relationships between variables in their study.

Answer 2

Answer: The answer is D

Explanation: