Suppose you asked the following two questions of a group of 100 children: "How much time do your parents spend reading to you each day?" and "What are your grades in school?" You find that children whose parents read to them for more than one hour each day have better grades than children whose parents read to them for only a few minutes each day.What could you conclude from this pattern of data?
A) Reading by parents causes children to do better in school.
B) Parental reading time and grades are positively correlated.
C) Parental reading time and grades are uncorrelated.
D) Better students cause their parents to spend more time reading to them.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The data shows a positive correlation between parental reading time and children's grades in school. This means that as parental reading time increases, children's grades tend to improve. However, this does not necessarily mean that there is a causal relationship between the two variables. There could be other factors at play, such as parental involvement in education or the child's natural academic ability. Therefore, we cannot conclusively say that reading by parents causes children to do better in school (choice A) or that better students cause their parents to spend more time reading to them (choice D). The data does not support the conclusion that parental reading time and grades are uncorrelated (choice C).

Suppose You Asked the Following Two Questions of a Group