1. In 2010, a major news publication ran an article with the headline \"Study: A
ID: 3277871 • Letter: 1
Question
1. In 2010, a major news publication ran an article with the headline "Study: Abstaining from Alcohol Significantly Shortens Life". Many studies have found that people who drink less (or not at all) are more likely to die younger than people who drink more. This result was surprising because regular alcohol consumption puts people at a higher risk of several life threatening diseases. In virtually all of these studies, this finding is constructed by comparing average age at death of non-drinkers to average age at death of drinkers. la. Give one reason why this correlation is very likely not indicative of a causal relationship. In other words, what underlying factors may cause a person to be less likely to drink and more likely to die prematurely? lb. Describe a comparison that could be made to uncover the true causal relationship between drinking alcohol and lifespan. It is okay if this comparison cannot be done in reality - what I want to see is if you understand the concept of a ceteris paribus comparison correctly.Explanation / Answer
Answer:
1a
We know that causation always indicate correlation but correlation does not always indicate causation. For the given example, death is not a direct effect of amount of alcohol consumption; but it is an indirect effect of amount of alcohol consumption. Who consume more alcohol have more risk of having diseases and due to these diseases, average age at death decreases. Diseases due to more alcohol consumption are the underlying factors which may a cause a person to be less likely to drink and more likely to die prematurely. So, this is an indirect effect and that’s why this correlation is very likely not indicative of a causal relationship.
1b
As we discussed above, there is a possibility of different diseases due to more alcohol consumption and this result in decreasing average life span of persons who drink more. There is a negative relationship between the amount of alcohol consumption and life span. More you drink, less likely to live more. There would be so many other reasons for the death of person. One cannot claim that the more alcohol consumption is the reason of early death. If we assume that all other things are constant or unchanged, then there would be a causal relationship between the amount of alcohol drink and life span.
Related Questions
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.