Question

Two variables are correlated with r = -0.23. Which description best describes the strength and direction of the association between the variables?

Answer 1

The answer was reverse on the test to

weak negative

Answer 2

Negative and weak correlation

Explanation:

Correlation is another word for association. If there is a positive association between two variables, i.e. whenever x increases y decreases then we will have covariance (x,y) as positive and hence correlation also positive

Correlation denoted by r lies between -1 and 1

If |r| is nearer to 1, we say strong correlation otherwise weak correlation

Two variables x and y are said to have correlation as -0.23

Since 0.23 is nearer to 0 than to 1 we say they are weakly correlated

Since r has a negative sign, we find that the two variables are negatively correlated and also weak.