Question

Can experiences of parents affect future children? New studies¹ suggest that they can: Early life experiences of parents appear to cause permanent changes in sperm and eggs. In one study, some male rats were fed a high-fat diet with of calories from fat (a typical American diet), while others were fed a normal healthy rat diet. Not surprisingly, the rats fed the high-fat diet were far more likely than the normal-diet rats to develop metabolic syndrome (characterized by such things as excess weight, excess fat, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance.) What surprised the scientists was that the daughters of these rats were also far more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than the daughters of rats fed healthy diets. None of the daughters and none of the mothers ate a high-fat diet and the fathers did not have any contact with the daughters. The high-fat diet of the fathers appeared to cause negative effects for their daughters. One variable is whether or not the male was fed a high-fat diet or a normal diet and another variable is whether or not the daughters developed metabolic syndrome.


Is the type of diet variable categorical or quantitative?


Is metabolic status of the daughters variable categorical or quantitative?


Is the type of diet of the males the explanatory variable or the response variable?

Answer 1

Categorical variable describes a quality or characteristic

Quantitative variables are measured and expressed numerically

Is the type of diet variable categorical or quantitative?

- Type of diet describes quality hence categorical variable

Is metabolic status of the daughters variable categorical or quantitative?
- metabolic syndrome is characterized by such things as excess weight, excess fat, insulin resistance, and glucose intolerance. These details can be measured numerically. Thus, quantitative variable

Is the type of diet of the males the explanatory variable or the response variable?
-Type of diet of males is used to study its effect on metabolic status.
Thus, type of diet of the males is explanatory variable.