Question

As a consultant to the community-funded Women, Infant, and Children's (WIC) clinic... The correlation coefficient for the data shown would MOST likely approximate which of the following?

a. +1.0
b. -0.5
c. -1.0
d. +0.5

Answer 1

The correlation coefficient measures both the strength and direction of a statistical relationship. Values close to +1 or -1 indicate strong relationships, while values close to 0 indicate weak ones. The sign of the coefficient shows the direction of the relationship.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question of the correlation coefficient relates to its strength and direction in a statistical relationship. As addressed in the examples, coefficients close to +1 or -1 indicate a strong relationship, whereas those near 0 indicate a weak relationship. For instance, an r value of 0.55 represents a moderately strong positive correlation, indicating that as one variable increases, so does the other. On the other hand, a correlation coefficient like r = -0.567 indicates a moderate negative correlation, meaning that as one variable increases, the other decreases.

It should be noted that a positive or negative sign indicates the direction of the relationship, not its strength. Therefore, both r = 0.80 and r = -0.85 represent strong correlations but in opposite directions. When examining correlation, ensure that the value of r is significant by comparing it to critical values in a statistical table, like the example given with r=0.8694 and the critical value of ±0.532.