The press release “Men Need to Man Up, According to Ball Park Brand Survey” (PR Newswire, October 14, 2015) describes the results of a study in which 1012 U.S. men were asked a number of questions about “life’s tough conversations.” One result from this survey was summarized in a USA TODAY Snapshot (USA TODAY, November 6, 2015) that said that “nearly 1 in 5 men would pay someone to handle their breakup for them.” 

a. Is the study described an observational study or an experiment? 

b. Give at least one reason why the conclusion that “nearly 1 in 5 men would pay someone to handle their breakup for them” may not generalize to the population of all U.S. men.