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33 votes
33 votes
The number of shark attacks on a certain beach increases on days when more ice cream is purchased. Does this correlation imply causation. List reasons why or why not.

User Susann
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1 Answer

7 votes
7 votes

Answer:

I don't think so. It's a coincidence -- maybe. But it's a fun question to answer.

Explanation:

Comment

So ice cream on this particular beach causes more sharks to come closer to shore and attack. That's the premise.

I'd like to say it is a coincidence, or the data is biased in some way, but there is no way of telling without checking out the stats (which I would guess there are none).

Perhaps sharks like sugar and lot of someones drop their ice cream cones in the water. It's a test. Or it could be made into one.

Perhaps the sharks are annoyed by the ice cream and take it out on the person holding the ice cream. Again it's a test.

Perhaps they smell the ice cream and are attracted to it. I wouldn't want to test this with offering a shark a sugar cube put in water.

User Amarachi
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