From the course: Learning Data Science: Understanding the Basics

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See how correlation does not imply causation

See how correlation does not imply causation

From the course: Learning Data Science: Understanding the Basics

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See how correlation does not imply causation

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- Correlation is a great tool. It will help you see relationships that you might not otherwise see. Yet there's a flip side. You have to see whether the correlation caused what you're looking at. Was it the correlation that caused the change? As a general rule, correlation doesn't imply causation. That means that a relationship between two things might be affected by a third thing that isn't part of your analysis. It's a big challenge for data science teams to figure out causality. You don't want to create relationships that don't exist. Think of it this way. I grew up in one of the colder areas of the country. When my parents got older, they moved to southern Florida. They now happily live in a sunny retirement community called The Vistas of Boca Lago. Every few months our family goes down to visit. Yet, statistically, their community is one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Every time we visit there are people being hospitalized or worse. There's a strong correlation between…

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