A reporter studied the causes of a fire to a house,and established a strong positive association between the damages $\text { (in dollars) }$ and the number of firefighters at the scene.Describe three different possible cause-and-effect relationships that might be present.

A) Perhaps the damages cause more firefighters at the scene,firefighters cause more damages at the scene,or both could be caused by a lurking variable such as the type of the building.
B) There is only one cause-and-effect relationship: firefighters cause more damages at the scene.
C) There are only two cause-and-effect relationships: damages cause more firefighters at the scene,or firefighters cause more damages at the scene.
D) There is only one cause-and-effect relationship: the damages cause more firefighters at the scene.
E) Perhaps the damages cause more firefighters at the scene,firefighters cause more damages at the scene ,or both could be caused by a lurking variable such as the size of the blaze.

Question

A reporter studied the causes of a fire to a house,and established a strong positive association between the damages

\text { (in dollars) }

and the number of firefighters at the scene.Describe three different possible cause-and-effect relationships that might be present.

A) Perhaps the damages cause more firefighters at the scene,firefighters cause more damages at the scene,or both could be caused by a lurking variable such as the type of the building.
B) There is only one cause-and-effect relationship: firefighters cause more damages at the scene.
C) There are only two cause-and-effect relationships: damages cause more firefighters at the scene,or firefighters cause more damages at the scene.
D) There is only one cause-and-effect relationship: the damages cause more firefighters at the scene.
E) Perhaps the damages cause more firefighters at the scene,firefighters cause more damages at the scene ,or both could be caused by a lurking variable such as the size of the blaze.

Sherin Sebastian · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : E, Explanation :  It is possible that the damages could cause more firefighters to be called to the scene, or that the number of firefighters could cause more damages to the property in the course of fighting the fire. However, the relationship between the two could also be influenced by a lurking variable, such as the size of the blaze. Therefore, option E is the best choice as it acknowledges the possibility of multiple cause-and-effect relationships, as well as a lurking variable.

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