Question

The correlation between SAT scores and college GPA is found to be +0.43.

a. as SAT scores go up, we can perfectly predict GPA to go up
b. as SAT scores go down, GPA goes down
c. as SAT scores go up, we can perfectly predict GPA to go down
d. as SAT scores go down, GPA goes up

Answer 1

Option b is correct; as SAT scores go down, GPAs tend to go down. A correlation of +0.43 indicates a moderate positive relationship, not a perfect prediction. Students can raise their GPAs by focusing on class attendance and hours spent studying.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correlation between SAT scores and college GPA mentioned is +0.43. This indicates a positive relationship, which means option b, as SAT scores go down, GPA goes down, is the correct interpretation. It does not mean we can perfectly predict GPA just from SAT scores; a correlation of +0.43 suggests a moderate positive relationship but still leaves a significant amount of variation unexplained. The statement about a perfect prediction would imply a correlation of exactly +1.0, which is not the case here.

To apply this knowledge, an admissions committee might consider SAT scores as one of the factors in their decision process, understanding that, historically, students with higher SAT scores tend to have higher college GPAs.

In practice, to potentially raise a GPA, a student should focus on the factors they can control, like class attendance and hours spent studying, since these factors together have a stronger impact on GPA than SAT scores according to the provided equation GPA = 0.25 x combined_SAT + 0.25 × class_attendance + 0.50 × hours_spent studying.