Is There Proof? Correlation vs. Causation Matters

Did you know eating ice cream increases your risk for sunburn? That’s not actually true, of course. But if you make a graph comparing ice cream intake and cases of sunburn over time, you’d see they’re very similar. This is a correlation (also called an association)—where two or more factors change in a similar direction, but don’t necessarily influence each other. In causation (cause-and-effect), a change in one factor is caused by a change in the other.

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The post Is There Proof? Correlation vs. Causation Matters appeared first on Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter.

Did you know eating ice cream increases your risk for sunburn? That’s not actually true, of course. But if you make a graph comparing ice cream intake and cases of sunburn over time, you’d see they’re very similar. This is a correlation (also called an association)—where two or more factors change in a similar direction,
The post Is There Proof? Correlation vs. Causation Matters appeared first on Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter. Read More