Question

Alfie says, "Because there is an outlier, there is no correlation." (c) Is Alfie correct? You must give a reason for your answer. a) Alfie is correct; outliers invalidate correlation. b) Alfie is incorrect; outliers do not necessarily invalidate correlation. c) Alfie is correct; outliers always invalidate correlation. d) Alfie is incorrect; correlation is independent of outliers.

Answer 1

b) Alfie is incorrect; outliers do not necessarily invalidate correlation.

Alfie's statement is not correct. While outliers can have an impact on the strength and direction of a correlation, they do not always invalidate correlation entirely. Outliers can influence the correlation coefficient, making it stronger or weaker, but the presence of an outlier does not automatically mean that there is no correlation. Correlation is a measure of the linear relationship between two variables, and outliers can be part of the data distribution. It's important to assess the data carefully, consider the context, and potentially use robust correlation measures or data transformation techniques to account for outliers, but correlation can still exist in the presence of outliers.

Explanation: