Suppose you are given data from a survey showing the iq of each person interviewed and the iq of his or her mother. that is all the information that you have. your boss has asked you to put together a report showing the relationship between these two variables. what could you present, and why?

Since both variables are continuous, u can use the Pearson correlation coefficient. The higher the value, the more related are the two variables. Most probably; as one increases, the other increases as well (i.e. some positive r). So u need to see some high or medium-sized r (> 0.3) and it has to be significant (p-value < .05). 
But be careful, a high IQ of the mother did not necessarily cause the high IQ in the Son. Nor the low IQ in the mother caused a low IQ in the Son. << NO Causal Relationship can be proved through your r >> 
Causal relationships can be only examined through experimental designs, where the researcher can manipulate the X (independent variable) and notices the change in Y (dependent variable) after that.