Science Today: Causation vs. Correlation

Respiratory therapy is a science-based discipline where treatments follow scientific evidence in peer reviewed journals like Respirtory Care, JAMA, and more.

There seems to be a trend, parrticularly in social media, where science is often misrepresented or ignored. Certain individuals, to prove their bias, often point to correlation between two variables as proof that one is responsible for the other. There’s a fallacy in their logic:

Correlation is when two variables move together, but one doesn’t necessarily cause the other, while causation means one variable directly makes another one happen. Common examples include the correlation between ice cream sales and shark attacks (both increase in hot weather), which are linked by a third variable, not by direct causation

Knowing the difference allows you to more accurately evaluate medical claims.