Determine whether the study depicts an observational study or an experiment.

the personnel director at a large company would like to determine whether the company cafeteria is widely used by employees. she calls each employee and asks them whether they usually bring their own lunch, eat at the company cafeteria, or go out for lunch.

Observational study.

Explanation:

In an observational study, researchers observe individuals without actually intervening on their conducts. There is no manipulation of the conduct that is observed. And the conclusion is reached by observation of the subjects.

An experiment is made when the researcher takes the individuals and manipulates the variables he's interested in. He makes hypothesis and draws conclusion based on the intervention he did.

The director wants to determine is the cafeteria is widely used by employees so she calls each employee and asks them whether they bring their lunch, use the cafeteria or go out for lunch. In this example, the director is not intervening on the conducts of the employees but she's only asking them questions to arrive to a conclusion, therefore, this is an observational study.

answer; disconfirm the catharsis theory;