But starting salaries for men and women are nearly the same when we look at each of Mountain Tech's schools (engineering, liberal arts, and so on) separately. This is an example of
A) using the mean when the median would be more appropriate.
B) an experiment without a control group.
C) internal inconsistency and an arithmetic mistake.
D) Simpson's paradox and more men in the schools whose graduates earn higher salaries.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is an example of Simpson's paradox. When the data is looked at as a whole, it appears that men are earning more than women, but when each school is looked at separately, there is no significant difference in starting salaries between men and women. This suggests that there are more men in the schools whose graduates earn higher salaries, and this is driving the overall difference in earnings.

But Starting Salaries for Men and Women Are Nearly the Same