Which inference is most supported by the statement that the study found a correlation between sleep and academic performance?

Which inference is most supported by the statement that the study found a correlation between sleep and academic performance?

• A. Sleep causes better performance.
• B. There is no relation between sleep and performance.
• C. More sleep is associated with better academic performance, though causation isn’t established.
• D. Sleep negatively affects performance.

Answer: (C)

A correlation shows that two variables tend to vary together, but it does not prove that one causes the other. If a study finds a correlation between sleep and academic performance, the most supported takeaway is that there is an association: more sleep tends to be linked with better performance. However, we can’t claim that getting more sleep will definitively improve grades, because other factors could be at work and a causal link hasn’t been established. To assert causation would require experimental evidence or longitudinal work that rules out alternative explanations. So the best inference is that more sleep is associated with better academic performance, without assuming that sleep causes the improvement. The other options misstate what correlation implies: they either assert causation, deny any relation, or claim a negative effect, none of which is warranted by a correlation alone.

A correlation shows that two variables tend to vary together, but it does not prove that one causes the other. If a study finds a correlation between sleep and academic performance, the most supported takeaway is that there is an association: more sleep tends to be linked with better performance. However, we can’t claim that getting more sleep will definitively improve grades, because other factors could be at work and a causal link hasn’t been established. To assert causation would require experimental evidence or longitudinal work that rules out alternative explanations.

So the best inference is that more sleep is associated with better academic performance, without assuming that sleep causes the improvement. The other options misstate what correlation implies: they either assert causation, deny any relation, or claim a negative effect, none of which is warranted by a correlation alone.