Final answer:
A group of college freshmen are asked about the quality of the university cafeteria. A year later, the same students are asked about the cafeteria again. Do students' opinions change during their time at school? The correct analysis for the scenario is using paired data since the same group of students is surveyed twice about the cafeteria, establishing a natural pairing of their responses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scenario presented should be analyzed using paired data because the same group of college freshmen are asked about the university cafeteria initially and again after a year, creating a natural pairing of pre-survey and post-survey responses. This type of statistical analysis is applicable for cases where we collect data twice from each individual, making the data dependent as each post-survey response is related to the pre-survey response of the same student. The correct characterization, therefore, would be that the groups are dependent and have a natural pairing.When considering responses for similar exercises as a guideline, it is clear that paired data is used when interviewed married couples (as their responses are paired by marriage).
When measuring something before and after a treatment or intervention within the same group of subjects, as with students' anxiety levels before and after a quarter or the students' test performance before and after using a new textbook.The scenario in question should be analyzed as paired data because the group of college freshmen are asked about the quality of the university cafeteria, and then a year later, the same students are asked about the cafeteria again. This means that there is a natural pairing between the two sets of responses as they come from the same group of students over time. By analyzing the data as paired, we can evaluate whether students' opinions change during their time at school.