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To test whether a correlation between two variables is genuine or spurious, additional variables and equations must be introduced, and sufficient assumptions must be made to identify the parameters of this wider system. If the two original variables are causally related in the wider system, the correlation is "genuine."

Spurious Correlation: A Causal Interpretation’, HerbertA.SimonJournal of the American Statistical Association, 49 (1954): 467–479. Copyright 1954. Reproduced with permission of Taylor & Francis Informa UK Ltd - Journals in the format Textbook via Copyright Clearance Center.
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