Correlation, also known as association, is the simultaneous variation in two variables. (Conley, pg. 46) Whereas, causation is the change in one factor of life directly causing a change in the other. (Conley, pg. 48) A causality is harder to prove than a correlation because more factors are needed to prove a causality. To prove causality three factors must be proven, correlation, time order, and ruling out alternative explanation. (Conley, pg. 48) Each one of these factors also have complex steps to prove them, this is what makes causality so hard to prove.
An example of correlation is simple, if I save my money the more financially stable I am. This is a correlation because; if I save my money now and don’t spend it on material things later in life when I have real expenses such as medical bills, a wedding, or continued …show more content…
After 3 days 7 kids are absent from class. The school district sends a letter home that there is a common cold epidemic in the class. Now, to prove this the school district had to prove correlation, time order, and alternative explanations. How did they do that? First, they had to make the initial correlation, a student got sick therefore they cannot attend school. Then, the school had to confirm a time line, on day 1 Student A was sent home from school. On day 2 two more students were sent home from school. On the third day 7 students did not attend school. The last step is to prove no alternative explanation for students missing school. The way to do that is to receive doctor’s notes from all 7 students saying they all had the same illness. After all, 3 of these criteria have been checked can the school say they have proved this epidemic by causation. Now can the kids lie or get a doctor to sign a note when they aren’t sick? Sure, but that’s what makes causation hard to prove. The school will however have documentation and data to support their claim whether it is faked or
An example of correlation is simple, if I save my money the more financially stable I am. This is a correlation because; if I save my money now and don’t spend it on material things later in life when I have real expenses such as medical bills, a wedding, or continued …show more content…
After 3 days 7 kids are absent from class. The school district sends a letter home that there is a common cold epidemic in the class. Now, to prove this the school district had to prove correlation, time order, and alternative explanations. How did they do that? First, they had to make the initial correlation, a student got sick therefore they cannot attend school. Then, the school had to confirm a time line, on day 1 Student A was sent home from school. On day 2 two more students were sent home from school. On the third day 7 students did not attend school. The last step is to prove no alternative explanation for students missing school. The way to do that is to receive doctor’s notes from all 7 students saying they all had the same illness. After all, 3 of these criteria have been checked can the school say they have proved this epidemic by causation. Now can the kids lie or get a doctor to sign a note when they aren’t sick? Sure, but that’s what makes causation hard to prove. The school will however have documentation and data to support their claim whether it is faked or