Fix It Lexi Is a Veterinary Student Who Wants to Know Whether

question 44

Essay

Fix It
Lexi is a veterinary student who wants to know whether dog owners are happier than cat owners, and whether any difference in happiness between dog and cat owners also varies according to sex. She recruits volunteers by placing flyers at local veterinary clinics that indicate participants are needed for a study on happiness. After several weeks and only three volunteers, Lexi gets permission from the veterinary clinics to tell clients they must participate in the study in order for their pets to receive services. She also begins to give people a $25 credit toward veterinary services for their participation. Eventually Lexi gets 80 volunteers (40 men and 40 women). After giving informed consent, participants complete a demographic questionnaire, as well as the Subjective Happiness Scale. On the demographic questionnaire the participants reported their sex, age, ethnicity, how many pets they owned, what kind of pets they owned, and for how many years they owned each pet. Lexi used the demographic questionnaire to divide participants into four groups: men who own dogs (n = 23), men who own cats (n = 17), women who own dogs (n = 20), and women who own cats (n = 20). The mean happiness for each group was computed and compared using several t-tests. The results indicate men are happier than women, cat owners are happier than dog owners, men with dogs are happier than men with cats, women with cats are happier than women with dogs, men with cats are happier than women with dogs, and women with cats are happier than men with dogs. Lexi concludes that a relationship exists between pet ownership and happiness.
What do you think of how Lexi obtained her participants? Do you agree with how she analyzed the data? Fix it!

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Definitions:

Perfect Substitute

Goods that can be used in place of one another with no loss of utility for the consumer, indicating a one-to-one substitutability.

Utility Function

A mathematical representation that assigns a level of utility or satisfaction to different bundles of goods, allowing preferences to be compared quantitatively.

Indifference Curve

A graph showing different bundles of goods between which a consumer is indifferent, meaning that the consumer has no preference for one bundle over the other.

Apples

Commonly refers to the fruit of the apple tree, but in economic terms, it can represent a simple, tangible commodity for analysis.