Students From States With Faster Internet Tend To Have Higher Test Scores

An anonymous reader sends word of correlation found between higher internet speeds and higher test scores. Quoting: The numbers—first crunched by the Internet provider comparison site HSI — show a distinct trend between faster Internet and higher ACT test scores. On the high end, Massachusetts scores big with an average Internet speed of 13.1Mbps, and an average ACT test score of 24.1. Mississippi, on the other hand, has an average speed of just 7.6Mbps and an average score of 18.9.

In between those two states, the other 48 fall in a positive correlation that, while not perfect, is quite undeniable. According to HSI's Edwin Ivanauskas, the correlation is stronger than that between household income and test scores, which have long been considered to be firmly connected to each other. The ACT scores were gathered from ACT.org, which has the official rankings and averages for the 2013 test, and the speed ratings were taken from Internet analytics firm Akamai's latest report.

Comments

Correlation is not causation

[mcl630]

The usual /. refrain of correlation is not causation definately applies here. Mississippi had low test scores long before broadband Internet came along.

Re:Correlation is not causation

[PPH]

Yep.

Low test scores correlate with low income. Low income correlates with not affording premium services.

Re:Correlation is not causation

[i kan reed]

No, causation can actually have a negative correlation, surprisingly.

It's relatively easy to generate cases where X can be caused by 2 different things, but the majority case simply has a stronger effect, if you don't account for mediating factors.

Let's take a case where everything is controlled by people so cause can be quite directly ascribed.
Applying for US citizenship causes US citizenship.
But among residents of the US, those applying for US citizenship are far less likely to end up being citizens than those who don't.

Data Mining.

[Atzanteol]

This is data mining. If you compare enough things you'll find strange correlations. There is little plausible reason to believe there is an actual causal relationship here.

These are also "irrefutable correlations":

US spending on science, space, and technology correlates with Suicides by hanging, strangulation and suffocation:
http://www.tylervigen.com/view...

Number people who drowned by falling into a swimming-pool correlates with Number of films Nicolas Cage appeared in
http://tylervigen.com/view_cor...

Per capita consumption of cheese (US) correlates with Number of people who died by becoming tangled in their bedsheets:
http://tylervigen.com/view_cor...