This is a really good illustration of the importance of not confusing correlation and causation. Just because there is an association between height and cancer does not mean that one causes the other. My betting money would be that age is one of the key factors in explaining this correlation. The likelihood of getting a number of different cancers increases with age, and as age increases, so too does height. The CDC has data on breast cancer risk and age, which can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/age.htm.
Julie Osland
Wheeling Jesuit University
-----Original Message-----
From: "michael sylvester" <[email protected]>
Sent 7/25/2009 7:02:12 PM
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]>
Subject: [tips] Height and cancer
Fox news reported that a study has found a
correlation between height and cancer.The taller
the more likely to get cancer.I assume that the
cancer rates among dwarfs and midgets and other vertically challenged
individuals would be minimal. As the only
cross-cultural dude on Tips,I can report
that there are some observations of a certain
population in Ecuador that give credibility to my
conclusions.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
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