An educator wishes to study the effects of sleep deprivation on the ability to concentrate. He decides to study the students in a calculus class. Before the start of the class, each student is asked about the number of hours slept the previous night. Each student's eye movement is then tracked throughout the lecture. The amount of time is recorded whenever the student is not focused on either the instructor or taking notes. The class is offered at 11 A.M. A potential confounder is given by the number of classes a student has prior to calculus because:
A)the larger the number of classes earlier in the day, the earlier the student has to get up and therefore sleeps less.
B)the larger the number of classes earlier in the day, the more a student has to prepare and likely stays up late.
C)many classes earlier in the day will leave a student tired just from having to stay focused for several hours.
D)All of the answer options are correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Each option describes a way in which the number of classes a student has before the calculus class could affect their level of sleep deprivation or ability to concentrate, making them all potential confounders in the study.

An Educator Wishes to Study the Effects of Sleep Deprivation