What does relationship mean in science?

Answer 1

When scientists say there's a relationship between A and B they mean that they have reason to believe that A and B are parts of a system whose parts are causally related. This does not mean that A causes B or vice versa. It means that there might be many other parts of the system containing both A and B that somehow link A and B so that when A changes B does too, or vice versa. For instance, I believe that height is related to intelligence. I don't believe that height makes a person more intelligent or that intelligence makes a person taller. However, it's possible that better childhood diet would result in both greater intelligence and greater height. I would say that there's a relationship between adult height and adult intelligence.

Answer 2

In science, a relationship refers to a connection or association between two or more variables or factors. Scientists often study relationships to understand how changes in one variable may affect another variable, or to identify patterns and correlations in data. Relationships can be described using mathematical models or through statistical analysis.