Question 5.2

5.2 Explanatory and response variables. Does regular church attendance lengthen people’s lives? One study of the effect of regular attendance at religious services gathered data from a random sample of 3617 adults. The researchers measured whether a person attended religious services regularly and length of life. Which of the following is true?

  1. (a) In this study, length of life is the explanatory variable and regular attendance of religious services is the response variable.

  2. (b) In this study, regular attendance of religious services is the explanatory variable and length of life is the response variable.

  3. (c) In this study, the 3617 adults are the explanatory variable and the information they provided is the response variable.

  4. (d) In this study, there are no explanatory and response variables because these data come from a survey.