Question

Does eating while driving make an accident more likely? Researchers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration looked at national traffic and accident records from a recent year for those drivers who were eating versus those who were not. Result: The odds of an accident were 80 percent higher when eating than when not. An example of a lurking variable that might affect the results of this study is:

a. whether the subject had an auto accident.

b. whether the subject was eating.

c. whether the subject was talking to a passenger in the car.

d. whether the subject owned a cell phone.

Answer 1

By definition of lurking variable, any variable which is not mentioned in the given case as an explanatory variable or response variable, but can have significant effect on the relationship between response variable and explanatory variable is defined as lurking variable.

In this case, explanatory variable is eating while driving and response variable is odds or chances of an accident.

Option A is incorrect because it is response variable

option B is incorrect because it is explanatory variable

option C is correct answer because subject or driver talking to a passenger while driving can cause more accidents. So, talking to a passenger while driving can increase or affect the relationship between response variable and explanatory variable.

option D is incorrect because owning a cell does not mean that driver will be on call while driving.