Question

Professor Bailey is examining the relationship between how close a student sits to the front of the classroom and that student's grade in a course. She believes that the greater the distance is between students and the front of the classroom, the lower their final grades will be. Which correlation coefficient BEST supports Professor Bailey's belief?

Answer 1

The correlation coefficient that best supports Professor Bailey's belief about the relationship between sitting distance from the front and final grades would be a negative number close to -1, such as -0.9.

Step-by-step explanation:

Professor Bailey is examining the relationship between the distance of student seating from the front of the classroom and their final grades. She believes that the farther away a student sits, the lower their final grades will be. To best support Professor Bailey's belief, the correlation coefficient representing this relationship should be negative, indicating that as the distance from the front increases, final grades decrease.

The correlation coefficient ranges from -1 to 1, where values closer to -1 indicate a strong negative relationship, and those closer to 1 indicate a strong positive relationship. A coefficient close to 0 indicates a weak or no relationship. Therefore, to best support Professor Bailey's hypothesis, the correlation coefficient should be a number significantly less than 0 and close to -1, for example, -0.9 would indicate a strong negative relationship between sitting distance and final grades.