Question

Discuss whether or not you agree with the following two statements and explain your answer:
i) “Lack of correlation is not equivalent to the lack of dependence between variables.”
ii) “Correlations can sometimes be ‘spurious’, and the existence of correlation does not imply that the variables are related in a causal way.”

Answer 1

i) I Agree with the following statement because

A lack of correlation  does not imply independence. When people use the term correlation, they are actually referring to a specific type of correlation called “Pearson” correlation. It measures the degree to which there is a linear relationship between the two variables so Lack of correlation is not equivalent to the lack of dependence between variables

ii) I agree with the following statement because

a spurious correlation, or spuriousness, refers to a connection between two variables that appears causal but is not , means that just because two things correlate does not necessarily mean that one causes the other .Correlations between two things can be caused by a third factor that affects both of them so  the existence of correlation does not imply that the variables are related in a causal way