Exam 10: Causality and Mills Methods

Table 2C Given the following table: -What method was used to determine the cause suggested by Table 2C?

Table 5B Given the following table: -What cause is suggested by the information in Table 5B?

The retrospective study described in your textbook in which a nutritionist attempted to determine the effect of several vitamins and minerals on atherosclerosis is closely related to which of Mill's methods?

Suppose that a philosophy professor is able to monitor the amount of time her logic students spend working on a computerized tutorial program. When the students spend 5 hours on the program, their average grade increases by 4 percentage points. When they spend 10 hours on the program, their average grade increases by an additional 4 percentage points, and when they spend 15 hours working on the program, their grades increase by yet an additional 4 percentage points. The professor concludes that work on the tutorial program causes an increase in student grades. What method did the professor use in drawing this conclusion?

Table 1A Given the following table: -What method was used to determine the cause suggested by Table 1A?

A condition X is not a necessary condition for Y if:

Table 3A Given the following table: -What method was used to determine the cause suggested by Table 3A?

Table 3B Given the following table: -What cause is suggested by the information in Table 3B?

Suppose that a sales consulting firm notices a correlation between the sale of house paint and number of home sales in an area. As the number of home sales increases, the sale of house paint increases, and vice versa. The consulting firm concludes that buying a home causes the new owners to purchase house paint. What method did the consulting firm use in drawing this conclusion?

Table 2A Given the following table: -What method was used to determine the cause suggested by Table 2A?

Suppose that a sociologist notices a correlation between the rate of personal bankruptcy filings and the suicide rate. As the bankruptcy rate increases, the suicide rare increases, and vice versa. The sociologist concludes that personal bankruptcy is a cause of suicide. What method did the sociologist use in drawing this conclusion?

Table 2B Given the following table: -What cause is suggested by the information in Table 2B?

Table 1C Given the following table: -What method was used to determine the cause suggested by Table 1C?

When we say that an electric current flowing through the filament of a light bulb causes the bulb to produce light, we mean 'cause' in the sense of a:

Table 1B Given the following table: -What method was used to determine the cause suggested by Table 1B?

Suppose that the owner of an older model Porsche Carrera notices that it takes 7 percent longer for her car to accelerate from zero to sixty than it did when the car was new. From a book relating to relevant parameters, she calculates that 2 percent of the reduction can be attributed to the fact that the car now has larger tires. Also, the alcohol content of the gas accounts for 2 percent, dirty spark plugs for 1 percent, and the fact that she now lives in Los Angeles, where the air is thicker than it was in Denver, where she bought the car, accounts for 1 percent. The owner attributes the remaining 1 percent to general aging of the engine. What method did the owner use in drawing this conclusion?

Table 2C Given the following table: -What cause is suggested by the information in Table 2C?

Suppose that an accountant for a bank notices a 5 percent reduction in profits for a certain quarter of operations. The accountant identifies four sources of increased costs that might account for this: increased salaries for some of the employees, increased utility costs, new computers for one of the departments, and increased real estate taxes. After further study, the accountant finds that each of these is responsible for a 1 percent reduction in profits, which adds up to a total of 4 percent. Unable to account for the final 1 percent loss, the accountant attributes it to embezzlement by one of the employees. What method did the accountant use in drawing this conclusion?

The controlled experiment in science is most closely related to which of Mill's methods?

Table 5A Given the following table: -What cause is suggested by the information in Table 5A?