Définition Coefficient of correlation

In statistics, a coefficient of correlation reflects the strength and direction of a linear relationship or dependence between two cardinal or ordinal variables. The correlation coefficient always lies between -1 and +1. A value of -1 indicates an entirely negative correlation. A correlation coefficient cannot be calculated for a nominal scale.

An example:

Every day, a person spends $100. At the end of day 10, the person has $1,000 less Dollars in his wallet than on the first day. Between the variable 'possession of money' and 'day', there is a completely negative correlation.

The value +1 indicates an entirely positive correlation. In this case, the person would earn $100 every day – so that on day 10, he would have earned $1,000.

The value 0 indicates that there is no demonstrable relationship between two variables at all.

As a rule, one would speak of a statistically discernible interdependance, if values met or exceeded +0.6/-0.6.

Les définitions de notre encyclopédie sont des explications simplifiées de termes. Notre but est de rendre ces définitions compréhensibles pour un large public. Par conséquent, il est possible que certaines d’entre elles ne soient pas entièrement à la hauteur des standards scientifiques.