What is a correlation?
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What is a correlation?
- Correlation is the measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between the variables
- Direction of the relationship can be either positive or negative. Correlations can vary between -1 and 1. A positive relationship is indicated by a positive value (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1). A negative relationship is indicated by a negative value (e.g., ranging from 0 to -1).
- An example of a positive relationship is the relationship between height and weight. The higher the outcome on one variable, the higher the outcome on the other variable.
- An example of a negative relationship is the relationship between exercise and weight. The higher the outcome on one variable, the lower the outcome on the other variable.
- Strength of the relationship is measured from 0 to 1/-1. The farther the value is away from 0, the stronger the relationship. The approximate criteria for strength is 0 for no effect, .1 for a small effect, .3 for a medium effect, and .5 for a large effect. Notice those values can be either positive or negative, depending upon the direction of the relationship, so a .2 and -.2 relationship indicate the same strength, but different direction
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