The Million Women study in England followed more than 1,000,000 women aged 50–64 years beginning in 1996, tracking their living habits and maintaining records on their medical and social factors as well as cancer data. Th e researchers found that aft er around 12 years, 3.7% (217/5,877) of the South Asian women developed breast cancer, compared to 3.6% (180/4,919) of the black women  and 4.4% (45,191/1,038,144) of the white women.
a. Identify the explanatory and response variables in this context. Also, identify whether each variable is categorical or quantitative.
b. Use the conditional proportions to explain whether the data indicate that there is an association between one’s race and whether or not one has breast cancer?
c. Identify a possible confounding variable that provides an alternative explanation for the observed differences in breast cancer rates among the different races.