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1. Suppose we ask a student who happens to be majoring in nutrition to select se

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Question

1. Suppose we ask a student who happens to be majoring in nutrition to select several graduates for the study. What kind of students do you think she might collect? Do you think her sample would be representative of all graduates?

2. We can easily access ratings for products, sellers, and companies through websites. These ratings are based only on those people who go out of their way to provide a rating. If 50% of online reviews for a product are negative, do you think this means that 50% of buyers are dissatisfied with the product?

3. Suppose an observational study tracked sunscreen use and skin cancer, and it was found that the more sunscreen someone used, the more likely the person was to have skin cancer. Does this mean sunscreen causes skin cancer?

Explanation / Answer

1.

She might select only those students who are majoring in nutrition. Thus her sample would not be representative of all graduates.

2.

50% online negative reviews does not mean that 50% of the buyers are dissatistfied with the product since there may be a lot of product users who do not give online reviews and hence are excluded from the survey.

3.

From the given information it can be said that there is a correlation between suncreen use and skin cancer. But in statistics correlation does not mean causation. And thus there may be other factors which cause skin cancer and also respond to sunscreen use.