Problems Related to Etiology in Medical Sciences

Errors are one of the most important factors affecting causal relationships and can cause fake and spurious relationships. A spurious correlation is a mathematical relationship in which two or more events or variables are related, but due to chance or the presence of a specific invisible third factor as a common response variable, confounding factor, or latent variable. This chapter explains spurious relationships and present the common ways for controlling the effect of chance and bias in relationships, real relationships except for causal relationship, cause-effect relationship, and the role of confounding and inferring the cause-effect relationship based on evidence.