Question

a student examines a scatterplot of shoe size vs. reading ability in children and reports: \the correlation coefficient is r = 0.90. this means that having bigger feet causes children to read better.\ which of the following explains the error in the students reasoning? a high correlation does not imply causation; another factor (such as age) could explain the relationship. the correlation coefficient shows how steep the line of best fit is, not how strong the relationship is. the correlation coefficient can only be negative, so r = 0.90 is impossible. a correlation of r = 0.90 means the variables are unrelated.

Explanation:

The correlation coefficient measures the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables. Just because there is a high positive correlation (r = 0.90) between shoe - size and reading ability does not mean one causes the other. Other factors like age could be influencing both variables simultaneously.

Answer:

A. A high correlation does not imply causation; another factor (such as age) could explain the relationship.