Correlation

How it is used

You find, observe or report a correlation 'between' two variables, and it can be strong, moderate, weak, positive or negative. It is measured with a coefficient such as Pearson's r. The sentence 'correlation does not imply causation' is repeated in every statistics course.

Example sentences

1. There was a moderate positive correlation between study time and exam scores (r = .42).

2. The correlation between ice cream sales and drownings is explained by hot weather, which drives both.

Common collocations

• strong correlation
• positive correlation
• correlation between X and Y
• find a correlation
• correlation matrix

Related terms

• correlation coefficientA number between −1 and +1 that measures the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables; 0 means there is no linear relationship.
• causationA relationship in which a change in one variable directly produces a change in another, as opposed to the two simply moving together.
• scatter plotA graph that shows the relationship between two numeric variables by placing one dot for each observation according to its two values.
• regressionA family of methods for modelling how an outcome variable changes with one or more predictor variables, used both to explain relationships and to make predictions.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• correlation · Software Engineering
• correlation · Data Science & Analytics
• correlation · Psychology
• correlation · Academic English & Research

More terms: Regression and Correlation

• linear regression
• R-squared
• residual
• least squares
• multiple regression
• logistic regression
• regression coefficient
• multicollinearity
• control for
• goodness of fit