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An association between two types of conditions does not establish that conditions of one type cause conditions of the other type.
Even persistent and inviolable association is inconclusive; such association is often due to conditions of both types being effects of the same cause.
Which one of the following judgments most closely conforms to the principle stated above?
Some people claim that rapid
The argument should have introduced a third factor that could have caused both rapid growth of the money supply and inflation, rather than asserting that the two conditions are actually the same phenomenon.
7% picked this
People who have high blood
Why this is right
This points out that the correlation between high blood pressure and being overweight does not establish that one might cause the other because it could be that both are effects of the same common cause.
Skill tested: Principle-Conform · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
79% picked this
In some areas, there is
Rather than asserting the correlation could have been coincidental, the argument should have suggested that a third factor could have caused both crime and ice cream consumption.
3% picked this
People's moods seem to vary
Rather than asserting a reverse causal relationship, the argument should have looked for a third factor that could be a cause of both the color of one’s clothing and one’s mood.
7% picked this
Linguists propose that the similarities
Rather than asserting an alternative possible cause of two correlated factors, this argument offers an alternative cause of a single observed phenomenon.
5% picked this
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