A recent study reported a finding that smoking was positively correlated with the incidence of liver disease. Respond to the prompts below. (1 point each)

1. Would it be appropriate to conclude from this that smoking causes liver disease? Explain why or why not.
2. If you were to calculate a correlational coefficient for these two variables and it turned out to be .5 how would you interpret this relationship? I.e., what is the strength of the relationship between the two variables?
3. Calculate the coefficient of determination for the above correlation. What does this result tell you about the relationship between the variables?
4. How might a third variable account for the apparent association between smoking and liver disease?
5. What additional research might you suggest to add additional clarity to the results reported above? Why?