Does eating while driving make an accident more likely? Researchers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration looked at national traffic and accident records from a recent year for those drivers who were eating versus those who were not. Result: The odds of an accident were 80 percent higher when eating than when not.
This study is a(n):
A) experiment, but without randomization.
B) simple random sample.
C) observational study, but not a simple random sample.
D) randomized comparative experiment.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This study is an observational study because the researchers observed drivers in their natural settings rather than manipulating their eating behaviors. However, it is not a simple random sample because the researchers did not randomly select drivers to observe. They looked at national traffic and accident records, which may not be representative of all drivers.

Does Eating While Driving Make an Accident More Likely? Researchers