Question

Over the past few years, there has been a strong positive correlation between the annual consumption of diet soda drinks and the number of traffic accidents.


(a) Do you think increasing consumption of diet soda drinks causes traffic accidents? Explain your answer.


No. A strong correlation implies causation.

No. A strong correlation does not imply causation.

Yes. A strong correlation does not imply causation.

Yes. A strong correlation implies causation.



(b) What lurking variables might be causing the increase in one or both of the variables? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Answer:No. A strong correlation does not imply causation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Cause and effect relationship is not explained by correlations. A cause and effect relationship can only be established by carrying out carefully controlled experiments.

Hence, a strong correlation between the the intake of soda and accidents does not necessarily imply that soda intake causes accident.

A lurking variable in this study may be the speed of the drivers. A lurking variable is not controlled but significantly impacts results obtained from the study.

Since the speed of the drivers is not strictly controlled, it may just be a lurking variable.