Final answer:
Correlation is a statistical measure expressing the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables, such as fast-food density and obesity rates. It is visualized using scatterplots and calculated through statistical tools including Pearson's Correlation Coefficient. Regression analysis can further investigate these relationships.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept in question is correlation, which is a statistical measure used in various disciplines, including geography, to determine the relationship between variables. Geographers, for example, might investigate the correlation between the density of fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood and the obesity rates among its residents.
Through statistical analysis, such as Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, they can identify if a positive correlation, a negative correlation, or no correlation exists. A positive correlation indicates that as one variable increases, so does the other, while a negative correlation shows that as one variable increases, the other decreases.
Scatterplots are often used to visualize these relationships, where the strength of the correlation can be seen by how closely the data points align with a straight line. Moreover, regression analysis can offer deeper insights into causality by including multiple independent variables affecting an outcome, known as the dependent variable.