What does a bivariate correlation indicate?

A correlation, or bivariate correlation, measures the relationship between two variables. The correlation measures the strength of the relationship.

The strength of a correlation ranges from the absolute value from 0 to 1; the closer the correlation is to 1, the stronger the relationship, the closer the correlation is to 0, the weaker the relationship. For example, the relationship between temperature and ice cream cones sold may be .80. This indicates a strong relationship. The direction can be positive or negative. For example, the positive correlation in the ice cream example is positive; as the temperature increase, ice cream cones sold increase. A negative correlation may be found between spending and saving in the bank; as spending increases, saving decrease.

There are other correlations, such as partial correlations, point-biserial correlations.

If you have questions, call us at 877-437-8622 or visit us on line at WWW.StatisticsSolutions.com