"The University of Michigan study, collected survey data from parents on each child’s sleep habits and asked both parents and te
achers to assess behavioral concerns. About a third of the students studied were identified by parents or teachers as having problems with disruptive behavior or bullying. The researchers found that children who had behavioral issues and those who were identified as bullies were twice as likely to have shown symptoms of sleep disorders." A friend of yours who read the article says, "The study shows that sleep disorders lead to bullying in school children." Is this statement justified? If not, how best can you describe the conclusion that can be drawn from this study?
In this study the independent variable was considered as the sleeping habits and the dependent variable was considered as the behavior of the child. It was seen that the children who had sleep disorders had behavioral issues. Your friend thinks that due to the fact that the children had sleeping disorders they had behavioral issue. This hypothesis could be wrong.
The sleep disorders could be a confounding variable. Even though it is true that children with sleep disorders have higher levels of behavioral issues other issues are not considered. Other factors should be considered and the actual independent variable should be found.
