A Study Done by the Center for Academic Integrity at Rutgers

A study done by the Center for Academic Integrity at Rutgers University surveyed 2116 students at 21 colleges and universities. Some of the schools had an "honor code"and others did not. Of the students at schools with an honor code, 7% reported having plagiarized a paper via the Internet, while at schools with no honor code, 13% did so. (Sacramento Bee, Feb 29, 2000, D1.) Although the data provided are not sufficient to carry out a chi-square test of the relationship between whether or not a school has an honor code and whether or not a student would plagiarize a paper via the Internet, suppose such a test were to show a statistically significant relationship on the basis of this study. What would be the correct conclusion?

A) Because this is an observational study, it can be concluded that implementing an honor code at a college or university will reduce the risk of plagiarism.
B) Because this is a randomized experiment, it can be concluded that implementing an honor code at a college or university will reduce the risk of plagiarism.
C) Because this is an observational study and confounding variables are likely, it cannot be concluded that implementing an honor code at a college or university will reduce the risk of plagiarism.
D) Because this is a randomized experiment and confounding variables are likely, it cannot be concluded that implementing an honor code at a college or university will reduce the risk of plagiarism.