Question
4x Which statement is TRUE? A A correlation does not establish a causal relationship. B A positive correlation always establishes a causal relationship. C A negative correlation always establishes a causal relationship. D There is always a third variable influencing a causal relationship.
Answer
4.3
(218 Votes)
Sienna
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
The true statement is A) "A correlation does not establish a causal relationship."
Explanation
A) "A correlation does not establish a causal relationship": This statement is true. Correlation indicates a statistical association between two variables, but it does not prove that one variable causes the other. Correlation does not imply causation.B) "A positive correlation always establishes a causal relationship": This statement is false. A positive correlation means that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase as well. However, correlation alone does not prove causation. Other factors, such as confounding variables, could be influencing both variables.C) "A negative correlation always establishes a causal relationship": This statement is also false. A negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease. Like positive correlation, negative correlation does not imply causation without additional evidence.D) "There is always a third variable influencing a causal relationship": This statement is generally true. In many cases, there may be other factors (third variables) that influence both the presumed cause and effect in a correlation. Identifying and considering these third variables is crucial in understanding the relationship between variables.