1.7 Exploring Correlations
When faced with a compelling correlation, such as the relationship between birth control pill use and cervical cancer, scientists must challenge themselves to consider whether the correlation suggests causality (e.g, the possible relationship between absences and course performance), is meaningless (e.g., presumably, the relationship between divorce and margarine), or whether the correlation may provide clues to other potential causes. For example, could using the Pill be associated with anything else that might be potentially carcinogenic? What do you think?
In their discussion of these findings, Brinton and colleagues noted “In addition, there was some evidence that pill associations were most pronounced among women who had never used barrier methods of contraception or who had histories of genital infections…”
Points to Ponder
Content on this page was originally published in The Evolution and Biology of Sex by Sehoya Cotner & Deena Wassenberg and is reproduced here in compliance with the original CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.
