Question

The Kalamazoo Michigan Symphony once advertised a "Mozart for Minors" program with this statement: "Question: Which students scored 51 points higher in verbal skills and 30 points higher in math? Answer: Students who had experience in music."

a) Is the following statement true or false: Does this mean that studying music causes a student to score higher in verbal skills and math? Please explain your answer. Your answer needs to include what possible causation is possible.

b) Draw a diagram that explains your answer. (Possible diagrams are causation, common response, or confounding). Be sure to label all variables in the diagram.

Answer 1

a)

The question was which student scored 51 points higher in verbal and 30 points higher in math and the given answer was students who had experience in music . This doesn't mean that studying music cause a student to score higher in verbal skill and math . There may be some relation between them but it doesn't say that studying music cause the other one there may be a third factor which influence or fluctuate both of the events . This is called lurking variable. This can be quality of school or economical status anything .So this can be said as Common response.

b)

This is a type of common response with association between the music study and higher score in verbal skill and math . Let ,

X = student to score higher in verbal skills and math.

Y = student that studying music .

Z = lurking variable

So there will be association between X and Y. Then causation between Z and Y , also between Z and X.

So diagram will be ,