Spoofing (4.2) To collect information such as passwords, online criminals use "spoofing" to direct Internet users to fraudulent websites. In one study of Internet fraud, students were warned about spoofing and then asked to log into their university account starting from the university's home page. In some cases, the log-in link led to the genuine dialog box. In others, the box looked genuine but, in fact, was linked to a different site that recorded the ID and password the student entered. The box that appeared for each student was determined at random. An alert student could detect the fraud by looking at the true Internet address displayed in the browser status bar, but most just entered their ID and password.

a. Is this an observational study or an experiment? Justify your answer.

b. What are the explanatory and response variables? Identify each variable as categorical or quantitative.

Online thieves employ "spoofing" to divert Internet users to phoney websites in order to gather information such as passwords.

An experiment deliberately subjects people to a treatment in order to record their reactions. An observational research attempts to gather information without upsetting the scene being observed. Although the box (genuine or not) appeared at random for each student, the treatments of the type of box were arbitrary given to the participants, and therefore the subjects went through a treatment, indicating that the study is an observational study.

Online thieves employ "spoofing" to divert Internet users to phoney websites in order to gather information such as passwords.

A response variable is one that computes a study's outcome, whereas an explanatory variable is one that explains or causes changes in the response variables.

The type of box (genuine or not genuine) is expected to influence entering the ID and password, implying that the explanatory variable is the type of box and the response variable is enter the ID and password.

Categorical/qualitative variables categorise persons, whereas a quantitative variable is a numerical quantity.

Box type: categorical, because the categories are real and not genuine.

Enter your ID and password here: Because the categories are yes and no, it is categorical.