CORRELATION

 Correlation is a statistical technique that can show whether and how strongly pairs of
variables are related. For example, height and weight are related; taller people tend to
be heavier than shorter people. The relationship isn't perfect. People of the same height
vary in weight, and you can easily think of two people you know where the shorter one
is heavier than the taller one. Nonetheless, the average weight of people 5'5'' is less than
the average weight of people 5'6'', and their average weight is less than that of people
5'7'', etc. Correlation can tell you just how much of the variation in peoples' weights is
related to their heights.
 Although this correlation is fairly obvious your data may contain unsuspected
correlations. You may also suspect there are correlations, but don't know which are the
strongest. An intelligent analysis can lead to a greater understanding of your data.
 It is a statistical method that is used to measure and describe a relationship between two
variables.
 Two variables are observed. No attempt to control or manipulate the variables

CHARCTERISTICS
  The direction of relationship
 1. Positive correlation (Two variables tend to move in the same direction) (+)
 2. Negative correlation (Two variables tend to move in the opposite direction) (-)
 The degree of relationship is expressed by coefficient which range from correlation ( -1
≤ r ≥ +1)
 The direction of change is indicated by a sign.
 The correlation analysis enable us to have an idea about the degree & direction of the
relationship between the two variables under study.

FEATURES OF COORELATION

 In correlation both the variables should be quantitative. To understand this we take an

example that we cannot calculate a correlation between the income and residents
 residing in city. Because we cannot calculate the residents of a city they might be
increase or decrease which one cannot predict.
 We represent the coefficient of correlation by ‘r’. Positive ‘r’ always shows that there is
a positive association between the variables and a negative r show a negative
association. 
 Correlation can be misleading because there can be a number of outliers. We can check
the correlation sometimes by using scatter plot. Scatter plots gives an idea of how the
data is pictured. Another correlation is also there and it is Ecological correlation which
is based on rates or averages to overstate the strength of association
 Correlation is used to measure association but on other hand that does not mean
association necessarily show causation. It means that both the variables are being
affected by third factor.
  It always show a positive increase when both the values increase together. Correlation
becomes negative when one of the variables is increasing and the other variable is
decreasing. When two sets of data is linked together and it shows increase in both the
variables we say it is a high correlation
 As we discussed above that correlation is defined by negative and positive so if the
correlation comes to + 1 then it is a perfect positive correlation and if the result comes
to be – 1 then it’s a perfect negative correlation. If we get zero in our result then there is
no correlation at all.

ADVANTAGES OF COORELATION

 Correlational research allows researchers to collect much more data than experiments.
Furthermore, because correlational research usually takes place outside of the lab, the
results tend to be more applicable to everyday life. Another benefit of correlational
research is that it opens up a great deal of further research to other scholars.
 When researchers begin investigating a phenomenon or relationship for the first time,
correlational research provides a good starting position. It allows researchers to
 determine the strength and direction of a relationship so that later studies can narrow
the findings down and, if possible, determine causation experimentally.
 This method not only indicates the presence, or absence of correlation between any two
variables but also, determines the exact extent, or degree to which they are correlated.
 Under this method, we can also ascertain the direction of the correlation i.e. whether the
correlation between the two variables is positive, or negative.
 This method enables us in estimating the value of a dependent variable with reference
to a particular value of an independent variable through regression equations.
 This method has a lot of algebraic properties for which the calculation of co-efficient of
correlation, and a host of other related factors viz. co-efficient of determination, are
made easy.
 Correlational research allows researchers to determine the strength and direction of a
particular relationship. This information is often used to further investigate the
relationship through experimental studies. In other words, it serves as a good starting
point for examining a relationship
 The relationship can be displayed in a graphical form

DEMERITS OF COORELATION
 Correlational studies do not help to establish causation. In other words, they cannot be
used to determine a cause-effect relationship.  Correlational studies look for
relationships between variables and can only be used to examine whether or not a
relationship exists and if it does, the researcher can gather information about the
strength and direction of that relationship.  Even with a very strong correlation between
variables, it cannot be assumed that one variable causes changes in the other variable.
 Correlational relationships are mostly easily examined if the relationship is linear. If it
non-linear, the strength of the relationship will be reduced in the calculation, however,
the change in direction of the variables may still be due to a strong correlation.
 Data points that are outliers on the graph may also cause results that are skewed.
 Correlational research does not allow the researcher to go beyond the data that is given
and inferences should not be made. For example, if a researcher were examining the
amount of time spent studying and test scores, he or she could not automatically assume
it was acceptable make a statement that increasing study time by a particular percentage
would increase test scores by a particular percentage.
 When examining multiple variables, there is a chance that some variables may show a
relationship based on chance alone.
 Correlation research only uncovers a relationship; it cannot provide a conclusive reason
for why there's a relationship. A correlative finding doesn't reveal which variable
influences the other. For example, finding that wealth correlates highly with education
doesn't explain whether having wealth leads to more education or whether education
leads to more wealth. 
 Reasons for either can be assumed, but until more research is done, causation can't be
determined.

APPLICATION AND INTERPITATION OF RESULT-

LINEAR RELATIONSHIP

STRONG RELATIONSHIP = GOOD LINEAR FIT

VERY GOOD FIT MODERATE FIT

 Points clustered closely around a line show a strong correlation. The line is a good
predictor (good fit) with the data. The more spread out the points, the weaker the
correlation, and the less good the fit. The line is a REGRESSSION line (Y = + a)BX
Coefficient of Correlation
 A measure of the strength of the linear relationship between two variables that is
defined in terms of the (sample) covariance of the variables divided by their (sample)
standard deviations
 Represented by “r”
 r lies between +1 to -1
 Magnitude and Direction -1 < r < +1 The + and – signs are used for positive linear
correlations and negative linear correlations, respectively

FORMULA

 Shared variability of X and Y variables on the top

Individual variability of X and Y variables