Which of the following can you conclude by looking at the figure above?
A) The number of people who voted in 2016 is larger than the number of people who did not vote in 2016.
B) There is an association between voting behavior in 2016 and one's level of optimism.
C) Voting in 2016 caused increases in one's level of optimism.
D) Optimistic people will be more likely to vote in 2018.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The figure shows a correlation between voting behavior in 2016 and one's level of optimism. Those who voted in 2016 had a higher level of optimism compared to those who did not vote. However, causation cannot be determined from this figure alone, so we cannot conclude that voting in 2016 caused increases in optimism. Additionally, the figure does not provide any information about the number of people who voted versus those who did not vote in 2016, so we cannot conclude that A is true. We also cannot determine whether optimistic people will be more likely to vote in 2018 just from this figure. Therefore, B is the best choice.

Which of the Following Can You Conclude by Looking at the Figure