Question

What is the difference between correlation and causation

Answer 1

Correlation is a statistical measure that describes the size and direction of a relationship between two or more variables. A correlation between variables, however, does not automatically mean that the change in one variable is the cause of the change in the values of the other variable.

Causation indicates that one event is the result of the occurrence of the other event; i.e. there is a causal relationship between the two events. This is also referred to as cause and effect.

The difference between the two types of relationships is — an action or occurrence can cause another action or occurence for example smoking causes an increase in the risk of developing lung cancer or it can correlate with another for example smoking is correlated with alcoholism, but it does not cause alcoholism.