Suppose you wanted to test the effects of a college writing program on success in other classes. The experimental group consisted of freshmen who had enrolled in the writing class; the control group consisted of freshmen who had not enrolled in the writing class. Subsequent performance of both groups in a writing-intensive history class was measured. A potential confound in this study is:

Question

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The potential confound in this study is selection, as the experimental group (those who enrolled in the writing class) may be different from the control group in terms of motivation, academic preparedness, or other factors that could affect their subsequent performance in the history class. Maturation refers to natural changes that occur over time, testing refers to the potential impact of repeated testing on performance, and mortality refers to the loss of subjects during the course of the study.

Suppose You Wanted to Test the Effects of a College