Linked to...? New 'Spurious Correlations' Blog Offers Comic Relief with a Dose of Caution

May 21, 2014

If you read any of the research studies we sometimes publish, there's a phrase that by now should roll easily off your tongue: correlation doesn't equal causation. If you doubt that, look no further than Harvard Law School Student Tyler Vigen's hilarious blog, "Spurious Correlations." It's absolutely the most fun available online for science geeks. Betcha didn't know that:

• The number of suicides by hanging, strangulation and suffocation correlates with the number of lawyers in North Carolina (.993796), or

• The amount of money spent on pets (U.S.) correlates with the number of civil engineering doctorates awarded (.983038) or

• The marriage rate in Mississippi correlates with U.S. per capita consumption of whole milk (.992835)?

Just check the graphs! There are dozens, and you can even easily discover and plot your own.

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Marriage rate in Mississippi Marriages per 1000 people (US Census)	6.9	6.5	6.4	6.2	6.1	5.8	5.7	5.4	5.1	4.8
Per capita consumption of whole milk (US) Gallons (USDA)	7.7	7.4	7.3	7.2	7	6.6	6.5	6.1	5.9	5.7
Correlation: 0.992835

Here, Tyler Vigen talks about Spurious Correlations.