Carlos, the president of a fraternity on campus, randomly sampled 500 students, asked them if they belonged to a fraternity or sorority, and asked them about their current GPA. He discovered that the GPAs of those people in fraternities and sororities were higher than those of people who were not involved in the Greek system. Gleefully, he presented his findings to the dean, saying that being involved in a fraternity or sorority leads to higher grades. What rule of research methods is Carlos breaking?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Carlos is breaking the rule of correlation not proving causation. Just because there is a correlation between being in a fraternity/sorority and having higher grades, it does not necessarily mean that being in a fraternity/sorority causes higher grades. There could be other factors at play that are influencing both membership in a Greek organization and GPA.

Carlos, the President of a Fraternity on Campus, Randomly Sampled