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Claude Opus 4.6
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Gemini 2.5 Flash
Evaluate a Public Health Study for Causal Claims
A city introduced a new after-school tutoring program for 8th-grade students in 10 public schools. At the end of the year, students who attended the program had an average math score of 78, while students who did not attend had an average math score of 71.
A newspaper headline says: The tutoring program caused a 7-point increase in math scores.
Write an exam-style answer that does all of the following:
1. State whether the headline’s causal claim is justified from the information given.
2. Explain at least three distinct reasons why the observed 7-point difference may not equal the true causal effect of the program.
3. Describe one improved study design that would allow a stronger causal conclusion, and explain why it is better.
4. Name one limitation that could still remain even in the improved design.
Your answer should be clear, logically structured, and use appropriate concepts from research methods or statistics.
