Thanks to the Internet, parents have access to a lot more data these days. The problem is that it’s hard for a lot of people to tell the good data from the bad data.
One of the big errors that people make when evaluating reports floated around various blogs and news sites is the mistaking of correlation for causation. I’m pretty sure that most people reading this have heard the phrase, “correlation does not imply causation” at some point. However, I think it’s worth going into again because so few people seem to realize exactly what it means.
A correlation is an observed connection between two facts or events. For example, there is a correlation between babies who have been breastfed and higher IQ scores. When a correlation is observed, it might be a hint that the two facts are somehow connected, but more research is usually needed to establish causation. Causation is when an actual connection is established – for example, eating junk food and a lack of exercise cause obesity.
I bring this up because the media loves to report on correlations. “People who eat chocolate live longer.” “Eating ice cream is linked to an increase in drowning deaths.” “Wealthier people have more musical talent.” These are all catchy headlines, and reporting on actual science has the difficult hurdle of requiring journalists to do research. So quite often, people get exposed to lazy media and eat up the headlines without going any further.
Quite often, correlations get repeated frequently enough that people accept their implications as fact. One of the bigger correlations that gets bandied about the parenting community, for example, is that children who are breastfed have higher IQs. Now, there are several proven benefits to breastfeeding over formula, but the higher IQ thing is just a correlation right now. It could be that breastfeeding actually makes kids smarter than they normally would be. Or it could be that parents who breastfeed also tend to be wealthier, which in turn allows them to afford things like tutors and learning aids that poorer households don’t have access to. Heck, it could even just be a random coincidence, much like the fact that the New York Giants play better when I’m holding my dad’s pocket watch. At the moment, we don’t really know for sure.
There’s quite a bit of sanctimony in the parenting community, and it tends to get worse when people have what they think are hard facts to back up their beliefs. As with most arguments, this tends to get worse online where some people take a degree of anonymity to be a license to say and do things they never would in real life. I’m not suggesting that people abandon a cause they think is important, but it doesn’t hurt to put things in perspective once in a while. And when it comes to making a parenting decision based on research, it’s important for you to examine the source itself. The difference between correlation and causation seems simple enough, but even educated people tend to forget it from time to time.
Pic: George Hodan