Causation?

[Hydroxyl]

Hey guys!

This may sound like a small topic to ask on ANotes, but I thought I may as well.


Can someone please explain the differences in causation? (i.e.; Common Cause/Response, Confounding variables and Coincidence)? How would we identify a situation to be one of these three variables?

TL;DR: How can we distinguish between the differences in causation?


Thank You all!

[clarke54321]

Hey guys!

This may sound like a small topic to ask on ANotes, but I thought I may as well.


Can someone please explain the differences in causation? (i.e.; Common Cause/Response, Confounding variables and Coincidence)? How would we identify a situation to be one of these three variables?

TL;DR: How can we distinguish between the differences in causation?


Thank You all!

Hi there Omer,

Common Response:

-The two variables are associated because they are both strongly associated to a third common variable

Eg.

-An observed observation may be that sunscreen causes people to faint, yet both factors are strongly associated to a third variable of temperature.

Confounding Variables:

-When we have at lease two causal explanations for the observed associations and have no way of proving their separate effects.

Eg.

-Does unemployment cause increasing levels of crime? This may be a causal explanation but there could be other factors such as an economic downfall at the time.

Coincidence:

-The association is purely coincidental and it is impossible to identify any feasible confounding variables to explain a particular association.

Eg.

-The correlation between the consumption of margarine and divorce rates in America is r=0.99. This is purely coincidence.

**Remember that:

-However suggestive an association may be, this does not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the two variables are causally related.

I hope this helps 

[Hydroxyl]

Thank You!