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Couldn't you settle this by controlling for initial mental health in two groups, having one group start using Instagram, and tracking any changes? If your point
by jm_l 9y ago
Couldn't you settle this by controlling for initial mental health in two groups, having one group start using Instagram, and tracking any changes? If your point is that it would take work to separate correlation and causation then yes, agreed, but I don't see why you would think we can't know for sure.
- extra88 9y agoThat would probably be considered unethical because the expected change would cause harm. Instead, perhaps you could have group A stop using Instagram and group B continue using Instagram then compare. It would be important to look deeper to see if there are differences within group A between those who and did not replace using Instagram with another social platform.
- learnstats2 9y agoIn addition to the other concern, you don't have a good control here because you intend to select from people who don't (or do) currently use Instagram - but this is already a self-selecting group.