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Statistics vocabulary · Regression and Correlation

Correlation coefficient

Meaning in statistics, with examples

nounCore term

In statistics, correlation coefficient means: A 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.

In Turkish: korelasyon katsayısı

How it is used

The most common is Pearson's r; Spearman's rho (ρ) is used for ranked or non-normal data. Reported as 'r = .42, p < .001' or 'r(98) = .42'. Rough guidelines call values around .1 small, .3 medium and .5 large, but context matters.

Example sentences

  1. The correlation coefficient between sleep hours and mood was r = .38.

  2. A correlation coefficient close to zero doesn't rule out a strong curved relationship.

Common collocations

  • Pearson correlation coefficient
  • Spearman's rank correlation coefficient
  • calculate the correlation coefficient
  • a coefficient of .60
  • correlationA relationship between two variables in which they tend to change together, either in the same direction (positive) or in opposite directions (negative).
  • scatter plotA graph that shows the relationship between two numeric variables by placing one dot for each observation according to its two values.
  • R-squaredThe share of the variation in the outcome variable that a regression model explains, ranging from 0 to 1; also called the coefficient of determination.
  • linear regressionA regression method that models the outcome as a straight-line function of one or more predictors, estimating an intercept and one slope per predictor.

More terms: Regression and Correlation

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