In regards to the graph and the radio program, there are many limitations to Pastor Handy’s claim that “the reduction in the use of corporal punishment has caused an increase in disobedience among teenagers.” When analyzing the graph several issues arise. First and most importantly, Pastor Handy’s claim of causation between corporal punishment and disobedience among teenagers cannot be made. The graph merely suggests correlation and correlation does not mean causation. Also, the graph cannot show us all the information. There could be many outside variables influencing the appearance of this correlation.
Secondly, it does not make sense to measure “Juvenile Crimes Index” and “Percent of Parents who Spank” on the same graph. “Parents who Spank” is measured by percent whereas the “Juvenile Crimes Index” does not tell us how it is being measured. In order to obtain a more accurate comparison of these two items, it becomes helpful to look at Document C. Below is the graph from Document B and a graph from the data provided in Document C (note that both Document B and C use the US Department of Justice as a source for information on Juvenile Crime).…show more content… The lowest percent of parents who spank was reported in 1994, which when compared to the graph of Document C was the also the highest year of aggravated assault arrests among juveniles. Even though Pastor Handy’s original graph has errors, an argument for correlation could be made using these two graphs. However, it is more than likely that there are other variables at play and assuming that the percent of parents who spank continued to decrease, it is also important to note that aggravated assault arrests also decreased after
