Suppose that we want to determine if eating organic food helps motivate people t

Question

Suppose that we want to determine if eating organic food helps motivate people to exercise. A study is conducted in which people leaving a grocery store are briefly interviewed. The interviewer asks each person whether or not they purchased any organic food and then asks that person to estimate how many hours of exercise he or she has had in the past week. The interviewer analyzes the data and finds that people who eat organic also tend to exercise more.

1.) The interviewer collected data on two variables. Identify these two variables and state whether each is quantitative or categorical

2.) Describe a population parameter that the interviewer could try to draw inference on using this data. It should be clear from your description that you are referring to a parameter not any other type of value.

3.) This data should not be interpreted to mean that eating organic food causes people to exercise more. Can you think of a confounding variable that would explain the observed relationship between exercise and eating organic food? if so state it and explain the way it is confounding. if not describe what properties such as a variable would need to have in order to be confounding

Explanation / Answer

1)

The interviewer collected data on hours of excercise the person had in the previous week and whether or not they purchased organic food. Hours of exercise is a quantitative variable whereas whether or not they purchased organic food is a categorical variable.

2)

The interviewer is trying to estimate the number of hours the people are putting in exercise daily based on their intake of organic food. Hence, the hours of excercise is the population parameter that the interviewer is trying to draw inference about.

3)

Here, we can take into account diet and it can act as an confounding variable and organic food also is a kind of diet only. This might help explain the relationship between exercise and eating organic food.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse S
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.