Tag: Correlation

Describe the correlation (variables involved and the relationship). State whether this is a positive or negative correlation, and explain your reasoning. State whether you think the article gives any sense of the strength of the correlation, and if so, describe the strength of the correlation, and explain your reasoning.

Assignment Question

Find a current events news report or article that discusses some type of correlation. For your chosen article, include the following in your post’s write-up: In your own words, briefly summarize the report or article and its conclusions about the correlation. Your “summary” of the source material is NOT to be “copied-and-pasted” from source material. Describe the correlation (variables involved and the relationship). State whether this is a positive or negative correlation, and explain your reasoning. State whether you think the article gives any sense of the strength of the correlation, and if so, describe the strength of the correlation, and explain your reasoning. State whether you think the article suggests the correlation reflects any underlying causality, and explain your reasoning. State whether you think this is a “real” correlation or a “spurious” correlation, and explain your reasoning.

Note: A “spurious” correlation implies that two variables are correlated, when, in reality, they are not.

See https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27537142Links to an external site. or www.tylervigen.comLinks to an external site. for examples of spurious correlations, but DO NOT USE THESE FOR YOUR POST.

Note: In the world of “stats” information, a “current” topic should be as “current” as possible.

For this course, “current events news report or article” is defined as “published less than five (5) years ago” and no older. If your chosen topic is one that involves rapidly changing information, your “current events news report or article” should be less than two years old. If you can’t find a publication date, find a different “current events news report or article” item. Posts dealing with articles that are too “dated” (five years or older) will receive a score of 0. Your selected “current events news report or article” must be an actual news report or article. Do NOT select a statistics report or abstract, a “tutorial” used to explain the meaning of “statistics” terms, an excerpt, or an “executive summary” type of item. Do NOT use the same article **OR** the same topic as already posted about by a classmate for this assignment. Posts with duplicated articles or topics will receive a score of 0 for the later posts. Provide a link to the news report or article, so that others can read it also and so that your teacher can compare your write-up to your source material. Posts without a working link will receive a score of 0. ALWAYS check the link you’ve provided in your post – and check it in Canvas, after you’ve made your post – to be sure it works! Some students in the past have either pasted incomplete URLs into their posts, or included a link which only worked for paid subscribers or was otherwise blocked behind a pay wall.)

Explain why cause was appropriate in one article and not in the other. What would be needed for the second article to justify a statement of cause?

Assignment Question

Correlation is the process of establishing a relationship between two or more factors. Correlation is an important concept that can be misused. One misuse is saying that factor A is caused by factor B just because correlation is found. Cause cannot be implied simply from correlation. Find two examples in scholarly articles within the last 10 years that use correlation analysis. One of the articles must use correlation to imply causation correctly and one article should not have justification to imply cause. Summarize both articles in at least 500 words. Explain why cause was appropriate in one article and not in the other. What would be needed for the second article to justify a statement of cause? While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.