STAT 100 Study Guide - Final Guide: Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Confounding, Scientific Control
Document Summary
The risk was 50% higher for heavy coffee drinkers under 55 years of age: (2 pts. ) A non-randomized experiment with historical controls: (2 pts. ) Yes, particularly for young people, the study clearly shows that excessive coffee drinking caused an increased risk of death. No, it"s possible that coffee drinkers share other traits (besides the coffee) that could put them at a higher risk of dying. No, you cannot conclude causation without a proven causal mechanism. The study does provide strong evidence that it"s the coffee that"s raising the death rate and not something else, but it fails to explain how or why: (2 pts. ) The study reported that they controlled for cigarette smoking. This means they thought smoking might be a confounder so they eliminated its confounding effect. State whether the following are confounders, causal links, or neither: A country club gives a pass-fail golf test every year to professional and amateur golfers.
