Does Sour Cream Cause Bike Accidents?

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Many people are confused about the concept of correlation versus causation. To help demonstrate the misconception in a light and humorous way, this article describes the work of Tyler Vigen. The Harvard student graphs data that are highly correlated but clearly unrelated. The "spurious correlations" help debunk the myth that if there is a correlation, then there is a causal relationship. The article emphasizes that rational human thought is essential to process the relationships and is necessary for studying statistics.

Resource ID#: 121317 Type: Text Resource

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Direct Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2640550/Does-sour-cream-cause-bike-accidents-No-looks-like-does-Graphs-reveal-statistics-produce-false-connections.html

General Information

Subject(s): Mathematics, English Language Arts

Grade Level(s): 9, 10

Intended Audience: Educators

Resource supports reading in content area:Yes

Keywords: statistics, correlation, causation, graphs, relationship, correlation coefficient, correlational vs. causal relationships

Instructional Component Type(s): Text Resource

Resource Collection: STEM Reading Resources

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