James found a strong relationship between stress and depression in his correlational study.However, he suspects that another variable was responsible for the results.This is an example of the ________ problem.

Question

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The problem James is facing is known as the third variable problem. This refers to the possibility of another variable (i.e. a third variable) being responsible for the observed relationship between two variables. In this case, stress and depression may be correlated, but it could be that another variable (such as lack of social support or genetic predisposition) is causing both stress and depression.

James Found a Strong Relationship Between Stress and Depression in His