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so let's just take stress.
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Let's say women are under higher stress than men,
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women smoke more because of the stress,
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and they're dying of heart disease
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because of the stress not the smoking,
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the smoking is just in there as an incidental variable.
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Now that's not the case:
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smoking is a very strong predictor of heart disease;
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but you can get a sense of
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the weakness of cross-sectional designs.
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These are the quickest way, and the most inexpensive way
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although not inexpensive in an absolute way