The following questions can guide a class discussion after reading this article. Many students might find this fascinating if they are pet owners. Take a poll of the type of dog food that is given to the animals.
1. What two variables are being compared?
2. What are possible lurking or confounding variables?
3. This is a retrospective study. Can you make cause and effect determinations? If so, why or why not?
4. For these claims to hold up to scrutiny in a court case, what type of study would need to be designed?
5. Are there possible consequences for this study?
6. If you have a dog, would you want them to be a trial participant in a controlled experiment?
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