A researcher knows that there is a relationship between obesity and watching television for young children. However, it is not known whether children watch more TV because they are overweight, or whether they are overweight because they watch so much TV. This is an example of the third-variable problem.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of the directionality problem, where the direction of cause-and-effect between two variables is unclear, not the third-variable problem which involves an additional variable that could be influencing both of the variables in question.

A Researcher Knows That There Is a Relationship Between Obesity