Regression and Correlation are the most used and most abused tools in research. People are quick to jump to conclusions that if a relationship exists between two variables, then one must cause the other. There are many reasons why two variables can be related without causality. For example, there is a strong inverse relationship between the sale of ice cream and the number of reported cases of the flu — does ice cream cure the flu? Of course not, but more ice cream is consumed in the summer, when the flu is minimized, thus there is a seasonal relationship, not a causal one. There is also a relationship between the seat belt lights turning on in an airplane and the existence of turbulence in flight, but the lights do not cause the turbulence.
0 comments