How Do Confounding Variables Affect Study Results?
Confounding variables can either overestimate or underestimate the true relationship between variables. For example, in a study examining the link between coffee consumption and heart disease, the variable "smoking" could be a confounder. If smokers are more likely to drink coffee and also have a higher risk of heart disease, failing to account for smoking can skew the results, falsely attributing the risk to coffee consumption.
