COURSE: MGMT 650

NOTE: Please provide credible and accessible references. Thanks

Correlation and Causation

Pick at least three statements and comment. Do the results justify the conclusions? Why or why not?

1. Often when people use regression analysis to estimate the effect of police officers or police spending on crime, they find that cities with larger police forces/budgets have higher crime rates. Therefore, police cause crime.

2. As ice cream sales increase, so do drowning deaths. Thus, ice cream causes people to drown.

3. Studies find that students who drink more tend to have lower grades. Therefore, drinking leads to poor student performance.

4. Over the past 300 years, there has been a decrease in the number of pirates on the high seas, along with an increase in average global temperatures. Thus, the reduction in piracy has led to global warming.

5. Children who come further down in the birth order have, on average, lower IQs than those born earlier in the birth order (e.g. First born children vs. 5th born children). Therefore, birth order determines intelligence.