A Company Held a Cholesterol Screening Clinic for Its Employees

Multiple Choice

A company held a cholesterol screening clinic for its employees.The results are summarized in the table below by age group and cholesterol level.A graphical display of the conditional distributions of cholesterol levels by age is given. $\begin{array}{|l|ccc|}&age\\\hline \text { choleserol level}& \text { Under } 30 & 30-49 & \text { Over } 50 \\\hline \text { Low } & 31 & 38 & 24 \\\text { Borderline } & 50 & 96 & 111 \\\text { High } & 18 & 46 & 63 \\\hline\end{array}$ Does this prove that aging causes increased cholesterol levels? Explain.

A) No.There is sufficient evidence of an association between age and cholesterol level.However,the percentage of employees with low cholesterol increased with age.Likewise,the percentage of employees with high cholesterol decreased with age.
B) No.Generally,an association between two variables does not imply a cause-and-effect relationship.Specifically,these data come from only one company and cannot be applied to all people.Only a controlled experiment can isolate the relationship between age and cholesterol level.
C) No.Generally,an association between two variables does imply a cause-and-effect relationship.Specifically,these data come from only one company and cannot be applied to all people.However,if more companies provided cholesterol screenings and these data were compiled,then the claim could be proven.
D) Yes.Generally,an association between two variables does imply a cause-and-effect relationship.However,these data come from only one company and cannot necessarily be applied to all people.A controlled experiment that can isolate the relationship between age and cholesterol level would make this a stronger claim.
E) Yes.There is evidence of an association between age and cholesterol level.The percentage of employees with high cholesterol increased with age.Likewise,the percentage of employees with low cholesterol decreased with age.