A recent study of a popular mobile game showed that players who purchased the game's premium subscription played for an average of fifteen hours per week. In contrast, players who did not purchase the subscription played for an average of only four hours per week. Based on these findings, the game's developers concluded that the premium subscription directly causes players to engage more deeply with the game.
Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the developers' conclusion?
- Before purchasing the premium subscription, the users in the premium group played the game for an average of exactly four hours per week.Cevap
- BThe premium subscription is exclusively offered to users who have already logged into the game for multiple hours each day over a consecutive two-week period.
- CThe percentage of non-subscribing players who play more than fifteen hours a week is significantly larger than the total absolute number of players who purchased the premium subscription.
- DMost mobile games with premium subscriptions report that their highest-spending players are generally also their most active players.
- EPlayers who purchase the premium subscription report feeling more emotionally invested in the game's community than those who do not.
Cevap
The option stating that before purchasing the premium subscription, users in the premium group played for an average of exactly four hours per week.
The developers' argument assumes a causal relationship based strictly on a correlation. A common flaw in this type of reasoning is the possibility of reverse causation—the idea that players who already engaged deeply with the game were naturally the ones who decided to purchase the subscription. The correct answer successfully eliminates this alternative explanation by demonstrating that the premium players actually had low engagement levels prior to their purchase. By ruling out the possibility that the heavy playtime preceded the subscription, the option heavily strengthens the claim that the subscription itself caused the increase in playtime.
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Strengthening Causal Arguments by Ruling Out Alternate Causes (Reverse Causation)
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