Suppose you have developed a treatment to help people stop smoking. To test the treatment, you identify smokers in a campus survey, and then you contact them to ask if they wish to volunteer for your smoking cessation treatment. Those who volunteer are given the treatment, and those who do not are assigned to the control group. After a month, a higher percentage of the treatment subjects than the controls has stopped smoking. Aside from the treatment, what may account for this difference?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The difference may be due to selection bias, as those who volunteered for the treatment might have been more motivated to quit smoking than those who did not volunteer, leading to a higher success rate independent of the treatment itself.

Suppose You Have Developed a Treatment to Help People Stop