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Chapter 1: Problem 54

A study described in Food Network Magazine (January 2012) concluded that people who push a shopping cart at a grocery store are less likely to purchase junk food than those who use a hand-held basket. a. Do you think this study was an observational study or an experiment? b. Is it reasonable to conclude that pushing a shopping cart causes people to be less likely to purchase junk food? Explain why or why not.

Short Answer

Expert verified
a. Without specific detailed description of how the study was conducted, it's difficult to definitively say if it was an observational study or an experiment. However, based on the given details, it could be reasonably inferred that it was an observational study. b. It's not reasonable to conclude that pushing a shopping cart causes people to be less likely to purchase junk food just from this study, as correlation does not imply causation and other confounding variables could be at play.

Step by step solution

01

Determining the Study Type

To determine the type of study (observational study or experiment), evaluate whether there was manipulation done to the subjects of the study or not. If individuals were allowed to shop as they normally would without any intervention or influencing factors, then it was an observational study. However, if some conditions were artificially enforced (such as some people were told to use carts while others told to use baskets), then it was an experiment.
02

Evaluating Causal Relationship

In assessing whether it's reasonable to conclude that pushing a shopping cart causes people to be less likely to purchase junk food, consider factors such as confounding variables. If the study didn't control for other factors such as shopping behavior or individual's health consciousness, making a causal statement would be unreasonable. It's crucial to note that correlation does not imply causation.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

For each of the following, determine whether the statistical study described is an observational study or an experiment. Give a brief explanation of your choice. a. Can choosing the right music make wine taste better? This question was investigated by a researcher at a university in Edinburgh (www.decanter.com/news). Each of 250 volunteers was assigned at random to one of five rooms where they were asked to taste and rate a glass of wine. No music was playing in one of the rooms, and a different style of music was playing in each of the other four rooms. The researcher concluded that cabernet sauvignon is rated more highly when bold music is played than when no music is played. b. The article "Display of Health Risk Behaviors on MySpace by Adolescents" (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine [2009]: 27-34) described a study of 500 publically accessible MySpace web profiles posted by 18-year- olds. The content of each profile was analyzed and the researchers concluded that those who indicated involvement in sports or a hobby were less likely to have references to risky behavior (such as sexual references or references to substance abuse or violence) c. USA Today (January 29,2003 ) reported that in a study of affluent Americans (defined as those with incomes of \(\$ 75,000\) or more per year) \(57 \%\) indicated that they would rather have more time than more money. d. The article "Acupuncture for Bad Backs: Even Sham Therapy Works" (Time, May 12,2009 ) summarized a study conducted by researchers at the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle. In this study, 638 adults with back pain were randomly assigned to one of four groups. People in group 1 received the usual care for back pain. People in group 2 received acupuncture at a set of points tailored specifically for each individual. People in group 3 received acupuncture at a standard set of points typically used in the treatment of back pain. Those in group 4 received fake acupuncture-they were poked with a toothpick at the same set of points used for the people in group 3 . Two notable conclusions from the study were: (1) patients receiving real or fake acupuncture experienced a greater reduction in pain than those receiving usual care; and (2) there was no significant difference in pain reduction between those who received real acupuncture (groups 2 and 3 ) and those who received fake acupuncture toothpick pokes.

Researchers at the University of Utah carried out a study to see if the size of the fork used to eat dinner has an effect on how much food is consumed (Food Network Magazine, January 2012). The researchers assigned people to one of two groups. One group ate dinner using a small fork, and the other group ate using a large fork. The researchers found that those who ate with a large fork ate less of the food on the plate than those who ate with the small fork. The title of the article describing this study was "Dieters Should Use a Big Fork." This title implies a cause-andeffect relationship between fork size and amount eaten and also generalizes this finding to the population of dieters. What would you need to know about the study design to determine if the conclusions implied by the headline are reasonable?

According to the article "Effect of Preparation Methods on Total Fat Content, Moisture Content, and Sensory Characteristics of Breaded Chicken Nuggets and Beef Steak Fingers" (Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal [1999]: 18-27), sensory tests were conducted using 40 college student volunteers at Texas Women's University. Give three reasons, other than the relatively small sample size, why it would not be a good idea to generalize any study results to the population of all college students.

The following is from an article titled "After the Workout, Got Chocolate Milk?" that appeared in the Chicago Tribune (January 18,2005\():\) Researchers at Indiana University at Bloomington have found that chocolate milk effectively helps athletes recover from an intense workout. They had nine cyclists bike, rest four hours, then bike again, three separate times. After each workout, the cyclists downed chocolate milk or energy drinks Gatorade or Endurox (two to three glasses per hour); then, in the second workout of each set, they cycled to exhaustion. When they drank chocolate milk, the amount of time they could cycle until they were exhausted was similar to when they drank Gatorade and longer than when they drank Endurox. For the experiment to have been well designed, it must have incorporated random assignment. Briefly explain where the researcher would have needed to use random assignment for the conclusion of the experiment to be valid.

A survey of affluent Americans (those with incomes of $$ 75,000\( or more) indicated that \)57 \%$ would rather have more time than more money (USA Today, January 29, 2003). a. What condition on how the data were collected would make it reasonable to generalize this result to the population of affluent Americans? b. Would it be reasonable to generalize this result to the population of all Americans? Explain why or why not.
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