Statistics: correlation and causation

In my undergraduate Basic Statistics Class, I had to make a project in which I had to measure the correlation between height and weight of my classmates.

Therefore, I've asked my colleagues to tell me their weight and height, and put the data in EXCEL. Then, the CORREL function gave me the correlation coefficient between those two variables.

I remember that the number I got was pretty high: r = 0.85, so I concluded that there is a high correlation, about 85%, between height and weight of my classmates.

I was wondering if the correlation I computed was the same as causation, but then I realized that, it my case, was not the case.

Causation is when one variable implies the other. For example: the students' weight was greater because they were taller. But that is not true. Height does not cause weight. Weight is caused by other factors, such as: number of meals per day, or amount and quality of food, or genealogy. But the weight is not caused directly by the height.

Therefore, even though weight and height are strongly correlated, there is not a causation between them.

This content was COPIED from BrainMass.com - View the original, and get the already-completed solution here!