Question

Select the correct answer. What happens if the correlation coefficient equals 0?

a) There is a strong negative linear relationship between x and y.
b) There is not a linear relationship between x and y.
c) There is a strong positive linear relationship between x and y.
d) There is a weak negative linear relationship between x and y.

Answer 1

If the correlation coefficient equals 0, it indicates that there is not a linear relationship between x and y.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correlation coefficient, r, measures the strength of the linear association between x and y. The variable r has to be between -1 and +1. When r is positive, x and y tend to increase and decrease together. When r is negative, x increases and y decreases, or the opposite occurs: x decreases and y increases. If the correlation coefficient equals 0, it indicates that there is not a linear relationship between x and y.