RESEARCH STUDY 8.1

RESEARCH STUDY 8.1
Dr. Farah is an educational psychologist who is interested in studying the link between homework and academic achievement. Over the years, several researchers have found a link between the two, suggesting that doing homework is associated with higher grades. However, Dr. Farah is curious about the possible causal link between the two variables. She conducts the following study. At the beginning of the spring semester, Dr. Farah measures the number of hours her students spend doing homework during the preceding week and their fall GPA (a measure of academic achievement) . At the end of the semester, Dr. Farah measures the same variables again (the hours spent doing homework the preceding week and their spring GPA) . She finds the following correlations.

-Refer to Research Study 8.1 above to answer the following question. A colleague of Dr.Farah's questions the internal validity of her causal claim.He is curious as to whether the relationship between homework and academic achievement could be explained by interest in one's classes.Specifically,he thinks that students who are interested in their classes will both do more homework and have higher GPAs.Which of the following is a solution to this possible threat to internal validity?

A) Dr. Farah should study a different sample.
B) Dr. Farah should also measure students' interest in their class.
C) Dr. Farah should measure students' interest in their class instead of time spent doing homework.
D) Dr. Farah should measure students' interest in their class instead of GPA.
E) None of the above are possible solutions.

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