SOLUTION: Please explain what is wrong and why. Using data from Boston, Massachusetts, a test of independence is run on the claim that ice cream sales per month and the number of car wrec

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Question 379773: Please explain what is wrong and why.
Using data from Boston, Massachusetts, a test of independence is run on the claim that ice cream sales per month and the number of car wrecks per month are independent. The claim is rejected.
Using number of car wrecks as the x variable and ice cream sales as the y variable, an r value of r=0.923 is then computed and shown to exceed the critical value for this data. The data is double checked and verified. This shows that car wrecks cause ice cream sales.

Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
That r value does not indicate causality; it indicates correlation.
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As one variable increases the other tends to increase but that does
not mean the change in one is CAUSING a change in the other.
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Cheers,
Stan H.