Correlation and Causation

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What is correlation?

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Correlation is a statistical measure that describes the extent to which two variables change together.

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What is causation?

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Causation indicates that one event is the result of the occurrence of another event.

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What does it mean if two variables have a positive correlation?

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A positive correlation means that as one variable increases, the other variable also increases.

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What does it mean if two variables have a negative correlation?

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A negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other variable decreases.

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Can correlation imply causation?

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No, correlation does not imply causation; it only indicates a relationship between two variables.

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What is an example of correlation without causation?

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An example is the correlation between ice cream sales and drowning incidents; both increase in summer, but one does not cause the other.

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What is an example of correlation with causation?

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An example is the relationship between studying and exam scores; more studying typically leads to higher scores.

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What is a spurious correlation?

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A spurious correlation is a relationship between two variables that is caused by a third variable.

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What is the difference between correlation and causation?

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Correlation indicates a relationship between variables, while causation indicates that one variable directly affects another.

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What is a scatter plot?

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A scatter plot is a graph that shows the relationship between two quantitative variables.