A researcher finds a correlation of -.75 between hours of television watched per week and GPA among high school students.What can the researcher conclude?
A) Watching television causes kids to get bad grades in high school.
B) Smart kids don't watch television.
C) As hours of television watched per week increases, GPA decreases.
D) Having a lower GPA causes kids to watch more television.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The negative correlation coefficient (-.75) indicates that as hours of television watched per week increases, GPA decreases. However, correlation does not equal causation, so it would be incorrect to conclude that watching television causes kids to get bad grades in high school. Option B is incorrect because there is no evidence to support the claim that smart kids don't watch television. Option D is incorrect because there is no evidence to support the claim that having a lower GPA causes kids to watch more television.

A Researcher Finds a Correlation of -