Cause and Correlation in Biology: A User's Guide to Path Analysis, Structural Equations and Causal Inference - Softcover

Shipley, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521529212 ISBN 13: 9780521529211

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

This book goes beyond the truism that 'correlation does not imply causation' and explores the logical and methodological relationships between correlation and causation. It presents a series of statistical methods that can test, and potentially discover, cause-effect relationships between variables in situations in which it is not possible to conduct randomised or experimentally controlled experiments. Many of these methods are quite new and most are generally unknown to biologists. In addition to describing how to conduct these statistical tests, the book also puts the methods into historical context and explains when they can and cannot justifiably be used to test or discover causal claims. Written in a conversational style that minimises technical jargon, the book is aimed at practising biologists and advanced students, and assumes only a very basic knowledge of introductory statistics.

About this title

About the Author

Bill Shipley teaches plant ecology and biometry in the Department of Biology at the Universite de Sherbrooke, Canada.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521529212
• ISBN 13: 9780521529211
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 332