Question

Identify at least one confounding variable that undermines the conclusion drawn in the following fictional study:

Prof. Acosta was interested in which of two popular statistics textbooks (Statistics: It Will Change Your Life and Statistics: Bigger, Better, Stronger) was better for students. Prof. Acosta compared the two texts by assigning one text to a section of statistics taught by Prof. Agnew from 10 to 11 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and the other text to a section of statistics taught by Prof. Alvarez from 7 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. At the end of the term, all students took the same comprehensive test. Students to whom Statistics: Bigger, Better, Stronger was assigned performed better on the test than did students to whom Statistics: It Will Change Your Life was assigned. Therefore, Prof. Acosta concluded that the former textbook was the better one.

Answer 1

Identifying at least one confounding variable that undermines the conclusion drawn in the fictional study is:

All students took the same comprehensive test.

Explanation:

In a study, an independent variable causes an effect on the dependent variable. But a confounding variable is the variable that influences the independent variable as well as the dependent variable. If this third variable is not controlled, it might lead the researcher to make a wrong estimate of the relationship that exists between the independent variable and the dependent variable.