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Used to describe the observed relationship between instances
of two events. A systematic pattern can be seen in the
occurrences of events that are correlated. When the events
involve numbers, a positive correlation means that as
one increases, the other increases as well. A negative
correlation means that as one increases, the other decreases.
Correlation does NOT imply causation in any way. In other
words, just because two events are correlated does not
mean that one causes another, or has anything to do with
the other - correlations deal only with observed instances
of events, and any further conclusions cannot be inferred
from correlation alone. Strong correlation, however, does
often warrant further investigation to determine causation.
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