3. A group of incoming freshmen were randomly assigned a mentor for their first year. The mentors were either faculty members or senior students. At the end of the first year, class attendance and grades were compared for students under each type of mentor. Better attendance and grades were were recorded for students with student mentors. (a) Was this an experimental or observational study? Explain. (b) Can we conclude that student mentors were more effective in inspiring higher grades and better class attendance than faculty mentors? Why or why not?
Added by Richard T.
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This random assignment helps to control for potential confounding variables and allows for a comparison between the two groups. (b) Although the study found that students with student mentors had better attendance and grades, we cannot definitively conclude that Show more…
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