What is a key limitation of observational studies?(1 point)

Question

Responses

They can establish a cause-and-effect relationship between variables.
They can establish a cause-and-effect relationship between variables.

They allow researchers to randomly assign participants to groups.
They allow researchers to randomly assign participants to groups.

They are prone to lurking variables that can affect the results.
They are prone to lurking variables that can affect the results.

They require active manipulation of variables by the researcher.

Answer 1

The key limitation of observational studies is:

They are prone to lurking variables that can affect the results.

This means that uncontrolled variables may influence the outcome, making it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about cause and effect.