Question

In analyzing statistical data, which do you think is more likely: a correlation coefficient of 0.9 or a correlation coefficient of 1.0? Explain.

Answer 1

A correlation coefficient of 0.9 is more likely. A correlation coefficient of 1.0 denotes that the probability of an event happening is certain (i.e. 100% likely to occur). When analysing statistical data, it is unlikely that you will come across events with absolute certain probabilities. For example, meteorologists can predict the weather to an extent where they are confident that the prediction will be correct, but they cannot be certain as the weather can be unpredictable at any time.

Answer 2

A correlation coefficient of 0.9 is more likely

Explanation:

Remember that the correlation coefficient is a statistical measure that show you the strength of the relationship between two variables.

The range of this value must be between -1.0 and 1.0.

A correlation of -1.0 shows a perfect negative correlation, while a correlation of 1.0 shows a perfect positive correlation. A correlation of 0.0 shows no relationship between the two variables.

As a correlation coefficient equal to 1.0 indicates that there is a perfect relationship between the variables, for a statistical analysis it is more likely to find values ​​less than 1.0 (between 0 and 1.0).