Question

One of the major misconceptions about correlation is that a relationship between two variables means causation; that is, one variable causes changes in the other variable. There is a particular tendency to make this causal error, when the two variables seem to be related to each other.

What is one instance where you have seen correlation misinterpreted as causation? Please describe.

an orginal post please

Answer 1

EXAMPLE WHERE WE HAVE SEEN CORRELATION MISINTERPRESTED AS CAUSATION:

Scenerio:

Children who watch a lot of TV are the most violent. The conclusion is: TV makes children more violent.

Here, there is a strong correlation observed between :

Watching a lot of TV

and

becoming violent.

So, we conclude:

Watching alot of TV is the cause

and

Children becoming violent is the effect.

FALLACY IN THE ABOVE CAUSE & EFFECT ARGUMENT:

If the above scenerio is carefully analysed, we will find out the actual interpretation as follows:

The children, who are by nature of violent character like watching more TV, as compared to those children who are by nature very mild.

Thus wesee correlation cannot mean causation in all cases.