Hedging — Modal May / Might / Could (C2)

The fall in absenteeism ___ that morale has improved, though other factors apply.

The unusual reading ___ a sensor fault, but recalibration is needed to confirm.

The improvement ___ the new curriculum, although the cohort also changed.

There ___ a connection between the two events, but it is not yet established.

Given the weak signal, the discrepancy ___ be due to measurement noise.

These early gains ___ prove temporary once the novelty effect fades.

Seasonal variation ___ part of the difference, but not all of it.

The reported figure ___ an overestimate, given how the sample was drawn.

The reform ___ reflect a shift in priorities rather than a change in budget.

The earlier outbreak ___ influenced the population's later immune response.

A different sampling method ___ have yielded a rather different result.

It ___ that the correlation is spurious, arising from a shared confounder.

Because the design was correlational, the link ___ be interpreted as causal.

Had the trial been larger, the effect ___ have reached significance.

Pending replication, these findings ___ be regarded as definitive.