Three conditions are necessary for determining causality: empirical association, appropriate time order, and nonspuriousness. In an experiment, ten people who had frequent headaches participated in a study. Five of the participants were given pain aides while the other five were given placebos. Results were recorded. Discuss whether causality was established by meeting the three conditions.
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In order to assess whether causality was established in the experiment, we will evaluate whether the three conditions for determining causality were met: empirical association, appropriate time order, and nonspuriousness.
1. Empirical Association: Empirical association is the presence of a relationship between the independent variable (in this case, pain aides or placebos) and the dependent variable (frequency of headaches). If there is a noticeable difference in headache frequency between the two groups, this condition is met. The experiment states that five participants were given pain aides and the other five were given placebos, and the results were recorded. Therefore, there is an empirical association between the use of pain aides or placebos and the frequency of headaches.
2. Appropriate Time Order: Appropriate time order means that the cause (independent variable) must precede the effect (dependent variable) in time. In this experiment, the administration of either pain aides or placebos clearly occurred before the recording of the results. Therefore, the condition of appropriate time order is met.
3. Nonspuriousness: Nonspuriousness refers to the absence of alternative explanations for the observed relationship between the independent and dependent variables. In this experiment, the fact that half of the participants were given pain aides and the other half were given placebos suggests that there is a controlled setting where the variable being manipulated (pain aides vs. placebos) is the only possible cause for the observed differences in headache frequency. However, it is important to note that there may still be potential confounding factors that were not controlled for in this small experiment, such as other medications the participants were taking or environmental factors. Therefore, while this experiment attempts to establish nonspuriousness, it may still be limited in fully addressing all possible alternative explanations.
Given these considerations, it can be argued that the experiment meets the three conditions for determining causality to a certain extent. There is an empirical association between the use of pain aides or placebos and the frequency of headaches, there is an appropriate time order between the administration of the interventions and the recording of results, and some effort has been made to establish nonspuriousness by creating a controlled experiment. However, the small sample size and the potential for uncontrolled confounding factors may limit the strength of the causal conclusions that can be drawn from this study.
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