Chapter 10: Q. 11 (page 668)
Corn variety 1 yielded 140 bushels per acre last year at a research farm. This year, corn variety 2, planted in the same location, yielded only 110 bushels per acre. Unfortunately, we don鈥檛 know whether the difference is due to the superiority of variety 1 or to the effect of this year鈥檚 drought. This is an example of
(a) bias due to voluntary response.
(b) confounding.
(c) lack of blinding.
(d) sampling variability.
(e) the placebo effect.
Short Answer
The answer is option (b) confounding.