We took a sample of children who had been learning to play a musical instrument for five years. We measured the number of hours they spent practising each week and assessed their musical skill by how many of 8 increasingly difficult exams they had passed. We also asked them whether their parents forced them to practise or not (were their parents pushy?). What does the graph suggest about children who spend approximately 1 hour practising a week?
A)They were less affected by having a pushy parent than those that practised for 7 hours.
B)They had less variability in their ability than those who didn't practise at all.
C)On average, these children will be more musically skilled if they do not have pushy parents than if they do have pushy parents.
D)On average, these children will be more musically skilled if they have pushy parents than if they do not have pushy parents.

Question

We took a sample of children who had been learning to play a musical instrument for five years. We measured the number of hours they spent practising each week and assessed their musical skill by how many of 8 increasingly difficult exams they had passed. We also asked them whether their parents forced them to practise or not (were their parents pushy?). What does the graph suggest about children who spend approximately 1 hour practising a week? 
A)They were less affected by having a pushy parent than those that practised for 7 hours. 
B)They had less variability in their ability than those who didn't practise at all. 
C)On average, these children will be more musically skilled if they do not have pushy parents than if they do have pushy parents. 
D)On average, these children will be more musically skilled if they have pushy parents than if they do not have pushy parents.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The graph suggests that children who spend approximately 1 hour practising a week are more musically skilled if they do not have pushy parents than if they do have pushy parents. This is because the orange dots (representing children without pushy parents) appear higher on the graph (indicating a higher average number of exams passed) than the blue dots (representing children with pushy parents). This trend is consistent across all levels of practice time. However, it is important to note that this is an observational study and therefore does not prove causation.

We Took a Sample of Children Who Had Been Learning