A researcher has studied a group of patients who have a rare type of cancer and has found that they all were regular cranberry juice drinkers. He concluded that drinking cranberry juice led to the development of the rare cancer. In this case, the researcher has most likely made an error in judgment due to

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The researcher has made a post hoc fallacy, which means that they are assuming that because two events occurred together (drinking cranberry juice and having the rare cancer), one event caused the other. However, it is possible that there is no causal relationship between the two and that other factors may be responsible for the development of the cancer.

A Researcher Has Studied a Group of Patients Who Have