Correlation =/= Causation
A lot of data is correlated. In some cases, this is because one variable causes another. In other cases, things are correlated and neither thing cause the other. I would like for you to think of one such example. 2 variables must be (believably) correlated, but one clearly doesn't cause the other. Thus, your response should have 4 parts to it...
~Thing 1
~Thing 2
~Ridiculous claim- thing 1 causes thing 2 or thing 2 causes thing 1 (or both -you choose!)
~Obviously the ridiculous claim isn't true. The real reason for the correlated relationship is probably because...
Example of spurious correlation betwee Thing 1 and Thing 2:
Thing 1: Sale of ice creeam
Thing 2: Death due to drowning
Ridiculous claim: Sale of ice cream causes death due to drowning
The real reason for the correlated relationship is probably because both these variables: Thing 1: Sale of ice creeam and Thing 2: Death due to drowning are related to a third Confounding Variable: Thing 3: Hot weather. Since the weather is very hot, ice cream sales are large. Because weather is hot, people go for water sports. Occasionally some of them die due to drowning.
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