Question

Child care and aggression A study of child care enrolled 1364 infants and followed them through their sixth year in school. Later, the researchers published an article in which they stated that “the more time children spent in child care from birth to age $4½$, the more adults tended to rate them, both at age $4½$and at kindergarten, as less likely to get along with others, as more assertive, as disobedient, and as aggressive.”

a. What are the explanatory and response variables?

b. Is this an observational study or an experiment? Justify your answer.

c. Does this study show that child care makes children more aggressive? Explain your reasoning.

Short answer

Part(a) The explanatory variable is the amount of time children spend in child care as newborns, and the response variable is hostility at an older age.
Part(b)The research is based on observation.

Part(c) No, this study does not show that child care makes children more aggressive

Step-by-step solution

Part(a) Step 1 : Given information

We need to find explanatory and response variables for given study.

Part(a) Step 2 : Simplify

In this study, infants are followed through their sixth year of school to see if the amount of time they spend in child care has an impact on their personalities, such as if they are more assertive, disobedient, or aggressive.
As a result, we may argue that time spent in child care is an independent variable, whereas violence at an older age is a dependent variable because it is reliant on time spent.
As a result, the time spent in child care as a newborn is an explanatory variable, while violence at a later age is a response variable.

Part(b) Step 1 : Given information

We need to find is this an observational study or an experiment.

Part(b) Step 2 : Simplify

The children were observed throughout their sixth year of school in this study, but the researchers had no influence over the youngsters and hence no treatments were administered to them.
As a result, the researchers did not assign therapies to the children, making this an observational study.

Part(c) Step 1 : Given information

We need to find that does this study show that child care makes children more aggressive.

Part(c) Step 2 : Simplify

We learn that the study is an observational study in portion (b).
Because the outcome could be influenced by the hidden variables, it is impossible to say if child care is the source of the infants' aggressiveness.
The temperament of the parents could be a hidden variable, as children tend to have the same temperament as their parents, and the temperament of the parents could impact their decision to leave the child in child care.
It is preferable to conduct an experiment rather than an observational research since there is less likelihood of the lurking variable influencing the outcome.