Investigators Writing in the Journal of Early Adolescence Were Interested

Essay

Investigators writing in the Journal of Early Adolescence were interested in the communication about sex and related topics between parents and 12-14 year olds. The investigators asked students and parents whether or not they had communicated with their child/parent about topics such as pregnancy, how to say "no," and methods of contraception. A scatter plot of their data is presented below. Each point represents one topic listed by the investigators. For example, 72.4% of parents and 57.6% of adolescents said the parents had discussed childbirth. This would be recorded as the point (57.6, 72.4). (a) On the graph above, sketch the line y = x, representing a line of "perfect agreement" between the parents and adolescents. (b) What explanation do you have for the placement of the points in the scatter plot relative to the line you sketched in part (a)?