Not decided yet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Not decided yet - Essay Example has established a causal relationship between smoking and the life span of the smoker, as opposed to establishing a correlation relationship between the two. The causal relationship requires that one variable leads to the other. In this case, the authors of the article have suggested that smoking leads to a reduction of a smoker’s life span by 10 years. This is a practical example of the authors incorrectly inferring causation from correlation, because the author ought to have stated that smoking may be related to a reduction in the lifespan of the smokers, as opposed to stating conclusively that in fact smoking causes the reduction of the lifespan of the smoker. The effect of this causal relationship established by the author is that; those people who do not smoke are guaranteed to live 10 more years, compared to the individuals who are involved in smoking. However, this assertion might not be true, because there are many smokers who live for many years compared to non-smokers based on different life factors. Therefore, this assertion cannot explain this practical variation between the assertion and the reality in life. The assertion above by the authors has come about as a result of a study that has suggested that smoking causes breast cancer. This is a case of the authors incorrectly inferring causation from correlation, because the right reporting ought to have been that there is a relationship between smoking and reduced lifespan. The authors arrived at the conclusion after the consideration of a study undertaken by researchers from the American Cancer Society, which produced findings â€Å"showing a 24% higher rate of breast cancer among women who smoked† (Press Association, 2014). This study served to add to the already existing evidence pointing to the existence of a link between the exposure to tobacco smoke and the breast cancer. This now marks the turning point of this study, from presenting a correlation relationship between breast cancer and