Correlation and Causation

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Correlation and Causation

Correlation alone does not mean causation, though the news cannot resist to use correlation to mean more than it does. Today we analyze three articles for proper use of correlation and causation. The attempted correlation, and causation statements made were including sleep with weight change, church goers and obesity, and having kids and being unhealthy.
Discussion
In the world of news reporting correlation often times gets reported as causation. This is not the case, since correlation inherently by definition requires further testing to show causality. These articles all refer to a different variable that shows correlation with weight gain or loss. It is our job to question all statistical statements made by our news. The articles we will study are "The Link Between Sleep and Weight", "Why Going to Church Can Make You Fat", and "Why Having Kids Is Bad for Your Health".
The Link Between Sleep and Weight
In the article "The Link Between Sleep and Weight" they use a few different study findings to support their claim of causation. The first involved a group of 40-60 year old women. These women had their weight and sleeping patterns tracked. This first study found that most of the women that had bad sleeping patterns were significantly more likely to have a major weight gain of equal to or more than 11lbs (McCoy, 2010). The second study involved observing the exercise and eating habits of a group of young men after sleeping for eight hours and four hours on two consecutive nights. The researchers found that the the men ate 560 calories more during the day after sleep deprivation compared with their well rested counterparts. The researchers discussed in this article claim that children are further at ris...

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.... Retrieved from http://www.everydayhealth.com/sleep/101/tips/snooze-control-suggested-for-overweight-children.aspx

(McCoy, 2010)

Park, A. (2011, March 24). Why going to church can make you fat read more: Why going to church can make you fat | time.com http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/24/why-going-to-church-can-make-you-fat/

Rochman, B. (2011, April 11). Why having kids is bad for your health read more: Study. Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/11/is-parenthood-bad-for-your-health/?iid=WBeditorspicks

Paul, M. (2011). Religious young adults become obese by middle age. (Master's thesis, Northwestern University)Retrieved from http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/03/religious-young-adults-obese.html

Bennett, J., Briggs, W., & Triola, M. F. (2014). Statistical reasoning for everyday life . (4th ed., pp. 237-273). Boston, Ma: Pearson.

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