Spurious Correlation (Noun)
Meaning
A correlation between two variables (e.g., between the number of electric motors in the home and grades at school) that does not result from any direct relation between them (buying electric motors will not raise grades) but from their relation to other variables.
Classification
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents.
Examples
- The discovery of a spurious correlation between the number of electric motors in the home and grades at school led the researchers to investigate further to identify the actual cause.
- A spurious correlation between the amount of money spent on clothes and the number of friends someone has does not mean that buying more clothes will increase one's social circle.
- The spurious correlation between the number of firefighters at a fire and the amount of damage done was misleading, as the actual cause was the size of the fire.
- After analyzing the data, the team found a spurious correlation between the number of people who wear shorts and the number of people who eat ice cream, which was actually due to the temperature.
- The spurious correlation between the number of people who exercise regularly and the number of people who earn more than $100,000 was an interesting find, but further analysis revealed that education level was the actual common factor.