SOC 104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Santa Barbara City College, Dependent And Independent Variables
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While one possibility is that playing violent games promotes violence, another possibility is that the path of causality is exactly the opposite of what was thought. Perhaps increased aggressiveness is causing more interest in violent games, and thus increased watching. Although this causal relationship may not seem as plausible to you, on the basis of the observed correlation, there is no way to rule out the possibility of such reverse causation. Another possible explanation for the observed correlation is that it was created by the existence of another variable not measured in the study. Common-causal variables are variables that are not part of the hypothesis of the study but that affect both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus generate the association observed between them. Students seated in the front of a large class have been found to get better grades than those sitting in the back of the room.
