You've heard the old saying that there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

There are several reasons why statistics are often misinterpreted.

One of the biggest is the confusion between the two concepts of correlation and causation. This confusion is not only made by

lay people but also by members of the media and scientists. Learn more about

correlation and causation and why one doesn't necessarily imply the other on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. With Lloyd's Bank ready-made investments you choose a risk level that feels right for you, from cautious to progressive, then you leave it to

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I've done several episodes where I dealt with logical and statistical fallacies.

Today I want to focus on what is perhaps the most frequent logical and

statistical error that many people succumb to, the confusion of correlation and causation, or as it's known in Latin,

Kumhoc ergo-propter-Hoc which translates to with the fact therefore because of the fact.

Let's say you're doing a study,

and you're looking at two different things.

These things can quite literally be anything.

Once you've collected the data,

you then plot the data on a chart

to see how they correlate.

Roughly speaking, there are three ways two different variables can correlate.

There can be a positive correlation.

When one goes up, the other goes up, and when one goes down, the other goes down.

...