Is celeste drawing false conclusions from her research

Assignment Help Business Law and Ethics

Reference no: EM133972802

Assignment:

Ethical Thought: Causal conclusions and descriptive data. Problem?

Celeste is a graduate student at a local university. She is studying for her doctoral degree in in Developmental Psychology. Her dissertation is looking at being overweight and being popular. Celeste has scientifically measured the popularity of a group of students from the local high school in several different ways, such how their peers rate them, how their teachers rate them and also by observing them herself. She has also measured the students' perceived weight by using some volunteers, who did not know the students, to observe the students and asked to rate their perceived overweightness. She found a strong relationship between being overweight and popularity (with a correlation of .92). When she presents her research in her dissertation defense, the committee agrees that she did an excellent job in making sure the study was scientifically rigorous. One committee member asks her what she thinks her study means. She replies, "The strong correlation between being overweight and popularity suggests that a child's weight plays a role in making the child popular or unpopular. Therefore, if unpopular children are provided with advice about eating healthier and exercise, etc. it will make them more popular."

Reflection Questions:

Is Celeste drawing false conclusions from her research, in that she is assuming there is a relationship between overweight and being popular?
Could their be other explanations for why being overweight and being popular are so strongly related?
What is the danger from an ethics standpoint in assuming there is a causal relationship between being overweight and being popular?

Reference no: EM133972802

Questions Cloud

What types of environments were depicted : What types of environments were depicted? What were some depictions of how the environment plays a role in development?

Can horse taming prevent reoffending : What if a new law is enacted where prisoners are required to pay for their own accommodations (food and housing) while incarcerated.

Analyze the impact of social change on individuals : Life Course Theory analyzes the impact of social change on individuals. Can you explain how?

Should psychologist be granted prescription privilege : Should Psychologist be granted prescription privilege?

Is celeste drawing false conclusions from her research : Is Celeste drawing false conclusions from her research, in that she is assuming there is a relationship between overweight and being popular?

Decribe eriksons identity versus role confusion stage : Decribe Erikson's identity versus role confusion stage. Be sure to include what actions adolescents may take to attempt to resolve this crisis.

Exploring different measures of personality assessment : Exploring different measures of personality assessment, it is important to review the different perspectives on understanding and defining personality.

Describe bottleneck faced by intersection of human rights : Describe the moral bottleneck faced by the intersection of human rights (and human resources needs) and moral sensitivity to non-human rights.

Develop the symptoms and current presenting problems : For example, "Based on the cognitive perspective, how did this client develop the symptoms and current presenting problem?"

User Account

All Pages