If a researcher finds that there is a correlation between secondhand smoke and children's asthma, he knows for SURE that:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Correlation only means that there is a relationship between two variables. It does not necessarily mean that one variable causes the other. Therefore, the researcher cannot say for sure that secondhand smoke causes children's asthma (A) or that it does not cause children's asthma (B). Also, while exposure to smoke in utero (C) may be a risk factor for asthma, it is not necessarily related to the correlation found in the study. The best answer is D, which recognizes that there is a relationship between asthma and secondhand smoke, but more research would be needed to determine the nature and direction of this relationship.

If a Researcher Finds That There Is a Correlation Between