Mortality causes the most problems for a study when
A) there are equal drop-out rates in all conditions of a study.
B) the study is being conducted in a laboratory setting.
C) people in one condition of the study are more likely to withdraw from the research than are people in other conditions.
D) the study's research participants are older adults.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

If people in one condition of the study are more likely to withdraw from research than are people in other conditions, this can create a bias in the results. For example, if participants in the treatment group are more likely to drop out than participants in the control group, it may appear that the treatment is less effective than it actually is. This problem is compounded when the reason for dropout is related to the outcome of interest, such as mortality. Therefore, mortality causes the most problems for a study when withdrawal rates are unequal across conditions.

Mortality Causes the Most Problems for a Study When