The Wall Street Journal provides a handy way to practice categorizing claims and variables in this story on gift-giving.

The journalist describes a number of psychological studies on how people feel when they give and receive gifts.

Click on the story and enlarge the custom cartoon titled "The Science Behind Gifting."

Read and classify each claim as frequency, association, or causal. In addition, indicate which variables are in each claim.

Here are some examples:
a. 79% of respondents…said regifting is socially acceptable during the holiday season.

b. A thoughtful gift makes the giver feel closer to the recipient, not the other way around.

c. Women regift at a 50% greater rate than men, according to a recent online poll by a credit-card-comparison website.

Suggested answers:

a. This is a frequency claim. Variable: Degree of agreement that regifting is socially acceptable.

b. This is a causal claim. Variables: Being the giver vs. receiver of a thoughtful gift; how close the person feels after the gift interaction

c. This is an association claim. Variables: Gender; Experience with regifting