Question

Read article published in US Today titled “Does eating organic food prevent cancer? Yes, a new study suggests”. Identify the following:

What is Y (outcome)?

What is primary X (explanatory var)?

What type of data?

Write down an empirical model that you think was estimated:

Do you think that established relationship is causal or it is s imply association? Why?

People who regularly eat organic food are less likely to develop cancer than those who don't, according to a new study out of France.

A team of researchers studied 68,946 adult volunteers from France who provided information on how often they ate organic food, drinks and even dietary supplements. Participants were given a score, based on how often they eat organic food ranging from "most of the time" to "never" or "I don't know."

During two follow-up appointments, one in 2009 and another in 2016, the researchers then tracked cancer diagnoses, the most prevalent being breast cancer. Other cancers observed included prostate cancer, skin cancer, colorectal cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphomas and lymphomas.

People who reported higher organic food scores were less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than the rest of the group. For example, those who consumed the most organic food were 25 percent less likely to have cancer, according to the research. That number grew to more than half when looking at cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

This research published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine doesn't necessarily mean that organic food is reason people are less likely to develop cancer. The reason for the results might be because of other lifestyle or environmental factors. The research also contradicts some data reported in a previous study, the Million Women Study, which linked organic food consumption to a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer.

A commentary by three nutrition experts also published in JAMA warns of some weaknesses in the French study, such as possible flaws in the questionnaire used to measure organic food consumption. The authors also stress data around the link between organic food and cancer remains unclear, and they urge the public to continue making dietary decisions based on current recommendations.

"Concerns over pesticide risks should not discourage intake of conventional fruits and vegetables, especially because organic produce is often expensive and inaccessible to many populations," the commentary states.

Answer 1

the outcome that they have found here is that the people taking organic food are less likely to be dignosed as cancer.

the explanatory variable here is organic food and the dependent variable here is cancer.

the data collected here is pannel data because it has been collected in two different time periods from a large group of people on different organic food products.

the model estimated here is emperical and it simplyshows association and not causal because in another type of study the researcher have found that the women who eat more organic food are slightly more likely to get breast cancer so we can not say organic food consumption reduces the chances of having cancer but it definitly association because the study found some emperical evidences in support of that.