A study at your university finds that of those who applied to its graduate school last year, the percentage admitted was higher for the male applicants than for the female applicants. However, for each department that received applications, the percentage admitted was lower for the male applicants than for the female applicants.

How could this possibly happen? In your answer, explain what plays the role of the response variable, the explanatory variable, the control variable, the bivariate table, and the partial tables. (Exercise 15.12 shows data that have similar behavior.)