[OC] Research Funding vs Human Development: a country's R&D spending correlates with its societal well-beingbluesam3 t1_je6cva8 wrote
Reply to comment by 958958958 in [OC] Research Funding vs Human Development: a country's R&D spending correlates with its societal well-being by latinometrics
No, you can have it in datasets of any size. If X causes Y, but also it just happens that in your dataset there's some other factor Z that causes (not Y) and happens to correlate strongly with X (in your dataset). For example, if exposure to some substance causes cancer, but people who are exposed to that substance tend to be exposed to vast quantities of it that kill them immediately (thereby preventing the vast majority of them from living long enough to develop cancer), you'd have a definite causation, but no (or even a reversed) correlation.
958958958 t1_jeetylt wrote
Good point! I think was more considering this within the context of a single dataset, without outside knowledge. If I read your example correctly (please correct me if I don't), the dataset described above would not contain evidence of X causing Y or if the dampening effect of Z is not complete X would correlate with Y (though perhaps weakly). Thought there may again be something I'm missing ;)
bluesam3 t1_jeeubjk wrote
Yeah, exactly.
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