Blame It on the Rain
Resources for this lesson:
Key Terms
Correlation
Causation
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A causal statement can only be accurate if experimental data is gathered in a way to eliminate the potential for any lurking variables. Otherwise, the only conclusion that can be made is one of correlation or an observed relationship between two variables. It is important to understand that correlation does not mean causation.
A statement of correlation for this data would be:
In rainier months, there were more instances of student injuries.
At first glance, this statement looks similar to Justyce’s original conclusion. Yet, this statement just identifies a trend in the data; it does not make the claim that the weather is the cause for the injuries.
