Here is data on per capita consumption (in pounds) of mozzarella cheese in the U

Question

Here is data on per capita consumption (in pounds) of mozzarella cheese in the US and the number of Ph.Ds in civil engineering awarded in the US for the years 2000 – 2009.

                Year     Mozzarella       Ph.Ds

                2000            9.3               480

                2001            9.7               501

                2002            9.7               540

                2003            9.9               552

                2004          10.2               547

                2005          10.5               622

                2006            11                655

                2007          10.6               701

                2008          10.6               712

                2009          10.6               708             Corrrelation = .95865

Explain why there is such a strong positive correlation in this case?

Explanation / Answer

The positive correlation is high due to the confounding variable population.

Since the population of the country must have increased from 2000 to 2009, both the cheese consumption and the Ph.Ds has increased.

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