: CORRELATION AND ASSOCIATION :

* Correlation : When there is a relationship of a quantitative nature between two sets of phenomena,
the appropriate statistical tool for discovering and measuring the relationship and expressing it in a precise
way is known as correlation and it is always defined ‘𝒓’ . *[Co → Together, Relation → Connection]
*Methods of computing of correlation :
(A) Scatter diagram.
(B) Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation. (𝒓)
(C) Spearman’s Rank correlation. (R)

*Important Note : The numerical value of correlation coefficient (𝒓) between two variables cannot
exceed 1 i.e., ─ 1 ≤ 𝒓 ≤ 1.
a) 𝒓 = ─ 1 (Perfect Negative correlation).
b) 𝒓 = 1 (Perfect Positive correlation).
c) 𝒓 > 0 (Positive correlation).
d) 𝒓 < 0 (Negative correlation).
e) 𝒓 = 0 (Uncorrelated or No correlation).
(A) Scatter Diagram :

Ex : (i) If plotted points in a scatter diagram lie from upper left to lower right, then the
correlation is _____________ .(a) Positive, (b) Zero, (c) Negative , (d) Perfect Negative.
(ii) If 𝑟 = 0, then there is _____________ correlation. (a) Positive, (b) Negative, (c) Yes, (d) No.
(iii) If the variables 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 are independent, then the value of their correlation coefficient
will be _____________ . (a) – 1, (b) 1, (c) 0 (d) None of these.
(B) Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation or Product moment coefficient of correlation :
: [ Basic formula ] :

: [ 2 Marks Questions] :
1. Obtain the correlation coefficient of 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 , if Cov (𝑥, 𝑦) = – 40, 𝜎𝑥 = 8, 𝜎𝑦 = 15 ;
2. If 𝑟 = 0.4 , Cov (𝑥, 𝑦) = 10 and 𝜎𝑦 = 5 , then find the value of 𝜎𝑥
3. Find the correlation coefficient between 𝑥 and 𝑦 when variance of 𝑥 is 2.25 , variance of 𝑦 is 1 and
covariance of 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 is 0.9 .
4. The correlation coefficient and covariance of two variables X and Y are 0.28 and 7.6 respectively. If the
variance of X be 9, find the standard deviation of Y.
5. Find the correlation coefficient if 𝜎𝑥2 = 6.25, 𝜎𝑦2 = 4 and Cov (𝑥, 𝑦) = 0.9 .
6. For the following results calculate correlation coefficient. If 𝑟𝑥𝑦 = 0.8, 𝑢 = 𝑥 + 5, 𝑣 = 𝑦 – 5 then find 𝑟𝑢𝑣 .
7. Calculate correlation coefficient from the following results. If 𝑢 + 3𝑥 = 5, 2𝑦 – 𝑣 = 7, 𝑟𝑥𝑦 = 0.12 ; find 𝑟𝑢𝑣 .
8. Pearson’s coefficient of correlation of two variables X and Y is 0.46, their covariance is 3.45 . If the
variance of Y is 9. Find S.D of X.
9. The covariance between two variables 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 is 9.7 and their variances are 81 and 64 respectively.
Calculate Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation between them.
10. Calculate coefficient of correlation between 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 series from the following data :
𝑥 series 𝑦 series
Number of pairs of observation 10 10
A.M 35 40
S.D 3.10 3.25
Sum of squares of deviation from Mean 146 154
Sum of the product of deviation of 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 series from their respective means = 130.
11. Find the number of items from the following data :
𝑟 = 1, 𝛴𝑥𝑦 = 330, 𝛴𝑦 2 = 990, variance of 𝑥 = 10, where, 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 denote deviations of the variates
𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 from their respective means.
12. Find the number of values of the variates from the following data:
𝑟 = 0.5, 𝛴𝑥𝑦 = 120, 𝛴𝑥 2 = 90 and S.D. of Y is 8, where, 𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦 denote deviations of the variates X and Y
from their respective arithmetic means.
: [ 4 Marks Questions] :
13. In order to find the correlation coefficient between two variables X and Y from 12 pairs of observations,
the following results were made, 𝛴X = 30, 𝛴Y = 5, 𝛴X2 = 670, 𝛴Y2 = 285, 𝛴XY = 334.
On subsequent verification it was found that the price (X = 11, Y = 4) was copied wrongly, the correct
value being (X = 10, Y = 14). Find the correct value of correlation coefficient.
14. In order to find the correlation coefficient between two variables X and Y from 20 pairs of observations,
the following results were made, 𝛴X = 42, 𝛴Y = 16, 𝛴X2 = 720, 𝛴Y2 = 346, 𝛴XY = 480. On subsequent
verification it was found that the price (X = 12, Y = 6) was copied wrongly, the correct being
(X = 10, Y = 16). Find the correct value of correlation coefficient.
15. Find the coefficient of correlation from the given data :
𝒙 1 2 3 4 5
𝒚 3 2 5 4 6
16. Find the coefficient of correlation from the given data :
𝒙 1 2 3 4 5
𝒚 6 8 11 8 12
17. Find the coefficient of correlation from the given data :
𝒙 1 2 3 4 5
𝒚 3 2 5 4 6
18. Find the coefficient of correlation from the given data :
𝒙 11 12 13 14 18 15
𝒚 13 12 15 14 12 11
19. Find the coefficient of correlation from the given data :
𝒙 3 5 7 8 9 15 16
𝒚 15 18 22 24 19 25 31
20. From the following data, calculate coefficient of correlation between the variables X and Y.
Given, 𝑥 = X – 𝑋̅, 𝑦 = Y – 𝑌̅ , 𝛴𝑥 2 = 10, 𝛴𝑦 2 = 24, 𝛴𝑥𝑦 = 12.
21. From the following data, calculate coefficient of correlation between the variables X and Y.
𝛴X = 125, 𝛴Y = 80, 𝑛 = 10, 𝛴X2 = 1585, 𝛴Y2 = 650, 𝛴XY = 1007.
(C) Spearman’s Rank correlation :
: [ Basic formula ] :

: [ 2 Marks Questions] :
22. Find ‘R’ (Spearman’s rank correlation) when 𝛴D2 = 30 and N = 10.
23. If the sum of square of difference of rank is 30 and number of items is 10, then what is the value of rank
correlation coefficient ?
24. If the sum of squares of the rank differences in Biology and Physics marks of 15 students is 27, then find
the coefficient of Rank correlation.
25. The coefficient of rank correlation of the marks obtained by 10 students in Mathematics and Statistics
was found to be 0.5. It was later discovered that the difference in ranks in the two subjects obtained by
one of the students was wrongly taken as 3 instead of 7. Find the corrected rank correlation coefficient.
26. The coefficient of rank correlation of the marks obtained by 10 students in English and Economics was
found to be 0.8. It was later discovered that the difference in ranks in the two subjects obtained by one
of the students was wrongly taken as 7 instead of 9. Find the corrected rank correlation coefficient.
 : [ 4 Marks Questions ] :
27. In a contest judges assessed the performances of eight candidates as shown below :
Candidates A B C D E F G H
st
1 judge 5 3 2 1 4 7 8 6
nd
2 judge 4 2 1 3 5 8 6 7
Using Spearman’s formula obtain the rank correlation coefficient.
28. From the data given below, calculate the coefficient of rank correlation between X and Y.
X 78 89 97 69 59 79 68 57
Y 125 137 156 112 107 136 123 108
29. Find the coefficient of rank correlation of the following data :
A 115 109 112 87 98 98 120 100 98 118
series
B 75 73 85 70 76 65 82 73 68 80
series
30. Two judges gave the following ranks to a series of eight one-act plays in a drama competition. Find the
relationship between their judgements :
Judge A 8 7 6 3 2 1 5 4
Judge B 7 5 4 1 3 2 6 8
31. Ten competitors in a beauty contest are ranked by two judges in the following order. Calculate
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.
Competitors A B C D E F G H I J
st
1 Judge 1 6 5 10 3 2 4 9 7 8
nd
2 Judge 6 4 9 8 1 2 3 10 5 7
32. In a contest, two judges assumed the performances of the eight candidates as follows :
Candidates A B C D E F G H
st
1 Judge 52 67 40 72 55 48 60 43
nd
2 Judge 52 51 43 54 56 40 60 49
33. Find the coefficient of rank correlation for the following data :
𝒙 38 23 30 4 6 5 55
𝒚 8 9 19 1 10 2 15

: Answers :
[1] – 0.33, [2] 5, [3] 0.6, [4] 9, [5] 0.18, [6] 0.8, [7] – 0.12, [8] 2.5, [9] 0.135, [10] 0.867, [11] 11, [12] 10,
[13]0.775, [14] 0.92, [15] 0.8, [16] 0.8, [17] 0.8, [18] – 0.34, [19] 0.89, [20] 0.77, [21] 0.47, [22] 0.82,
[23] 0.82, [24] 0.952, [25] 0.26, [26] 0.61, [27] 0.83, [28] 0.95, [29] 0.73, [30] 0.62, [31] 0.64, [32] 0.67,
[33] 0.68.

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