In August 1998, an article titled “Prayer Can Lower Blood Pressure” appeared in the USA Today. The article was based on the findings of a study by the National Institutes of Health Initiatives that followed 2,391 people aged 65 years or more. The article said: “People who attended a religious service once a week and prayed or studied the Bible once a day were 40% less likely to have high blood pressure than those who don’t go to church every week and prayed and studied the Bible less.”
a. Identify the explanatory variable in this study. Also classify this variable as categorical or quantitative.
b. Identify the response variable in this study. Also classify this variable as categorical or quantitative.
c. Identify a confounding variable that provides an alternative explanation for the lower blood pressure among those who attended religious services regularly and studied the Bible regularly, compared to those who didn’t.