IMHO, correlation does imply causation when the data from which the correlation was computed were obtained by experimental means with appropriate care to avoid confounding and other threats to the internal validity of the experiment. In that case, I opine that correlation IS necessary to infer causation.
Yes, IF and only if you have actively manipulated the experimental variable and demonstrated through your experimental control that NO possible third variables could have produced the results.
But by doing so you have done more than simply demonstrate correlation, and your inference rests on more than just the demonstration of correlation.
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"No one in this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people." -H. L. Mencken
* PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Dept Minnesota State University * * 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 * * http://www.mnsu.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
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