Question

you have conducted a study on the heredity of elephant ear size. if regression to the mean occurred in your research, what would your data show?
elephants with extremely large ears produce calves with ears that are even larger.
all elephants produce calves with ears that are exactly average.
elephants with extremely small ears produce calves with ears that are somewhat larger.
elephants with average ears produce calves with extremely large ears.

Explanation:

Regression to the mean means that extreme values (either very large or very small) in a dataset tend to be closer to the average (mean) in subsequent measurements. In the context of elephant ear size, if an elephant has extremely small ears (an extreme value), its calves' ear sizes would be closer to the average (i.e., somewhat larger than the extremely small size of the parent).

• The first option ("Elephants with extremely large ears produce calves with ears that are even larger") goes against regression to the mean as it shows an increase in the extreme value.
• The second option ("All elephants produce calves with ears that are exactly average") is too absolute. Regression to the mean doesn't mean all values will be exactly the mean.
• The fourth option ("Elephants with average ears produce calves with extremely large ears") also doesn't follow the concept of regression to the mean which is about extreme values moving towards the mean, not average values moving to extremes.

Answer:

Elephants with extremely small ears produce calves with ears that are somewhat larger.