Sanjay is studying whether his racism awareness program increases people's awareness of issues of race and ethnicity in his city. On Monday, he gives an attitude survey to his participants to gauge their awareness. On Tuesday through Thursday, he puts them through his program. On Wednesday, a local predominantly black church is firebombed and the KKK claims responsibility. On Friday, Sanjay gives his awareness survey again and finds awareness of racial issues has increased dramatically. This example illustrates the possibility of ______ as a plausible rival hypothesis.
A) history
B) maturation
C) regression artifact
D) selection

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The dramatic increase in awareness of racial issues could be attributed to the external event of the church being firebombed, which is an example of a historical event affecting the study's outcome, rather than the effectiveness of the racism awareness program itself. This is known as the history effect.

Sanjay Is Studying Whether His Racism Awareness Program Increases People's