Question

People used to say crime increased when the moon was full. This may be true, but would it imply causation between crime and the moon or correlation?

Medal to best answer. Thanks!

Answer 1

just a correlation

Answer 2

crime also increases with the number of churches. This does not imply churches cause more crime, but because there are more people (the number of churches is a function of the number of people in a city, more people implies more churches).

Answer 3

Isn't causation when one variable causes another variable....
So why isn't it causation if by there being a full moon it causes there to be more crime?

Answer 4

@perl

Answer 5

because a full moon does not cause crime

Answer 6

it is like the correlation, less pirates causes global warming.

Answer 7

we have global warming today, and less pirates. so do you think that having less pirates causes global warming? surely there is another reason (could be natural cycle, manmade, etc)

Answer 8

i would say, probably a full moon does not cause crime. it is possible it does, you would have to test it carefully this hypothesis (devise an experiment). simply observing more crime on a full moon does not prove that the moon caused it.

Answer 9

Thank!