Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is.

We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

4.2 Scatter Diagrams and Correlation

A scatter diagram is a tool for analyzing relationships between two variables. One
variable is plotted on the horizontal axis and the other is plotted on the vertical axis. The
pattern of their intersecting points can graphically show relationship patterns. Most often a
scatter diagram is used to prove or disprove cause-and-effect relationships. While the diagram
shows relationships, it does not by itself prove that one variable causes the other. In brief, the
easiest way to visualize Bivariate Data is through a Scatter Plot.
“Two variables are said to be correlated if the change in one of the variables results in a
change in the other variable”.

4.2.1: Positive and Negative Correlation

If the values of the two variables deviate in the same direction i.e. if an increase (or
decrease) in the values of one variable results, on an average, in a corresponding increase (or
decrease) in the values of the other variable the correlation is said to be positive.
Some examples of series of positive correlation are:
i. Heights and weights;
ii. Household income and expenditure;
iii. Price and supply of commodities;
iv. Amount of rainfall and yield of crops.

Correlation between two variables is said to be negative or inverse if the variables deviate
in opposite direction. That is, if increase (or decrease) in the values of one variable results in
corresponding decrease (or increase) in the values of the other variable. Eg Price and demand
of goods.

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Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

4.2.2 Interpreting a Scatter Plot

Scatter diagrams will generally show one of six possible correlations between the
variables:
i. Strong Positive Correlation The value of Y clearly increases as the value of X
increases.
ii. Strong Negative Correlation The value of Y clearly decreases as the value of X
increases.
iii. Weak Positive Correlation The value of Y increases slightly as the value of X
increases.
iv. Weak Negative Correlation The value of Y decreases slightly as the value of X
increases.
v. Complex Correlation The value of Y seems to be related to the value of X, but the
relationship is not easily determined.
vi. No Correlation There is no demonstrated connection between the two variables

4,3 Correlation Coefficient

Correlation coefficient measures the degree of linear association between 2 paired
variables It takes values from + 1 to – 1.
i. If r = +1,we have perfect positive relationship
ii. If r = -1,we have perfect negative relationship
iii. If r = 0 there is no relationship ie the variables are uncorrelated.

4,3 .1 Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient

Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient, usually denoted by r, is one example of a
correlation coefficient. It is a measure of the linear association between two variables that
have been measured on interval or ratio scales, such as the relationship between height and
weight. However, it can be misleadingly small when there is a relationship between the
variables but it is a non-linear one. The correlation coefficient r is given by

r
 ( x  x )( y  y ) It can be shown that r 
n xy   x y

 ( x  x)  ( y  y )
2 2
[n x 2  ( x)2 ][n y 2  ( y )2 ]
Example:: A study was conducted to find whether there is any relationship between the
weight and blood pressure of an individual. The following set of data was arrived at from a
clinical study. Let us determine the coefficient of correlation for this set of data. The first
column represents the serial number and the second and third columns represent the weight
and blood pressure of each patient.
Weight 78 86 72 82 80 86 84 89 68 71
Blood Pressure 140 160 134 144 180 176 174 178 128 132
Solution Totals
X 78 86 72 82 80 86 84 89 68 71 796
Y 140 160 134 144 180 176 174 178 128 132 1546
xy 10920 13760 9648 11808 14400 15136 14616 15842 8704 9372 124206
x2 6084 7396 5184 6724 6400 7396 7056 7921 4624 5041 63826
y2 19600 25600 17956 20736 32400 30976 30276 31684 16384 17424 243036

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Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

10(124206) - (796) (1546) 11444

Thus r    0.5966
[ (10)63776 - (796)2 (10) ][(243036) - (1546)2 ] (1144) (40244)
Example 2:
Obtain the correlation coefficient of the following data
Mean Temp. (x) 14.2 14.3 14.6 14.9 15.2 15.6 15.9
Pirates (y) 35000 45000 20000 15000 5000 400 17
Solution

- 62583
We then have that r   0 : 93
2.5(1828695447)

4.3 .2 Spearman rank correlation coefficient

Data which are arranged in ascending order are said to be in ranks or ranked data.. The
coefficient of correlation for such type of data is given by Spearman rank difference
correlation coefficient and is denoted by R.
6 d
2

R is given by the formula R  1 

n(n 2  1)

Example
The data given below are obtained from student records.( Grade Point Average (x) and
Graduate Record exam score (y)) Calculate the rank correlation coefficient ‘R’ for the data.
Subject 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
X 8.3 8.6 9.2 9.8 8.0 7.8 9.4 9.0 7.2 8.6
y 2300 2250 2380 2400 2000 2100 2360 2350 2000 2260
Solution
Note that in the x row, we have two students having a grade point average of 8.6 also in the y
row; there is a tie for 2000.
Now we arrange the data in descending order and then rank 1,2,3,. . . . .10 accordingly. In
case of a tie, the rank of each tied value is the mean of all positions they occupy. In x, for
56
instance, 8.6 occupy ranks 5 and 6. So each has a rank  5.5
2
Similarly in ‘y’ 2000 occupies ranks 9 and 10, so each has rank 9.5
6 d
2

Now we come back to our formula R  1 

n(n 2  1)
We compute d, square it and substitute its value in the formula
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Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

X 8.3 8.6 9.2 8.0 9.8

7.8 9.4 9.0 7.2 8.6
y 2300 2250 2380 2400
2000 2100 2360 2350 2000 2260
Rank(X) 7 5.5 3 8 1
9 2 4 10 5.5
Rank(Y) 5 7 2 9.5 1
8 3 4 9.5 6
d 2 -1.5 1 -1.5 0
1 -1 0 0.5 -0.5
d2 4 2.25 1 2.25 0
1 1 0 0.25 0.25
So here, n = 10 and  d  12 . So R  1 
2 6(12)
 1  0.0727  0.9273
10(100  1)
Note: If we are provided with only ranks without giving the values of x and y we can still find
Spearman rank difference correlation R by taking the difference of the ranks and proceeding
in the above shown manner.

4,4 Regression
If two variables are significantly correlated, and if there is some theoretical basis for
doing so, it is possible to predict values of one variable from the other.
Regression analysis, in general sense, means the estimation or prediction of the
unknown value of one variable from the known value of the other variable. It is one of the
most important statistical tools which is extensively used in almost all sciences – Natural,
Social and Physical.
Regression analysis was explained by M. M. Blair as follows:
“Regression analysis is a mathematical measure of the average relationship between two or
more variables in terms of the original units of the data.”

3.4.1 Regression Equation

Regression analysis can be thought of as being sort of like the flip side of correlation.
It has to do with finding the equation for the kind of straight lines you were just looking at
Suppose we have a sample of size n and it has two sets of measures, denoted by x and y. We
can predict the values of y given the values of x by using the equation, y*  a  bx
Where the coefficients ‘a’ and ‘b’ are real numbers given by
n xy   x y  y  b x
b and a
n x  ( x )
2 2
n
The symbol y * refers to the predicted value of y from a given value of x from the regression
equation.

Example: Scores made by students in a statistics class in the mid-term and final
examination are given here. Develop a regression equation which may be used to predict final
examination scores from the mid – term score.
Student 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mid term 98 66 100 96 88 45 76 60 74 82
Final 90 74 98 88 80 62 78 74 86 80
Solution:
We want to predict the final exam scores from the mid term scores. So let us designate ‘y’ for
the final exam scores and ‘x’ for the mid term exam scores.
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Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

We obain the following table for the calculations.

Student 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Totals
X 98 66 100 96 88 45 76 60 74 82 785
Y 90 74 98 88 80 62 78 74 86 80 810
2
X 9604 4356 10000 9216 7744 2025 5776 3600 5476 6724 64521
XY 8820 4884 9800 8448 7040 2790 5928 4440 6364 6560 65074
10 (65,074) - 785 (810) 14,860 810 – 785( 0.5127)
b 2
  0.5127 and a   40.7531
10( 64, 521) - (785) 28,985 10
Thus, the regression equation is given by y*  40.7531  (0.5127) x We can use this to find
the projected or estimated final scores of the students. Eg for the midterm score of 50 the
projected final score is y*  40.7531  (0.5127) 50  66.3881 , which is a good estimation.
To give another example, consider the midterm score of 70. Then the projected final score is
y*  40.7531  (0.5127) 70  76.6421 , which is again a very good estimation.

Practice Problems:
1. Consider the following data and draw a scatter plot
X 1.0 1.9 2.0 2.9 3.0 3.1 4.0 4.1 5
Y 10 99 100 999 1,000 1,001 10,000 10,001 100,000
2. . Let variable X is the number of hamburgers consumed at a cook-out, and variable Y is
the number of beers consumed. Develop a regression equation to predict how many beers
a person will consume given that we know how many hamburgers that person will
consume.
Hamburgers 5 4 3 2 1
Beers 8 10 4 6 2
3. A horse owner is investigating the relationship between weight carried and the finish
position of several horses in his stable. Calculate r and R for the data given
Weight carried 110 113 120 115 110 115 117 123 106 108 110 110
Position Finished 2 6 3 4 6 5 4 2 1 4 1 3
4. The top and bottom number which may Top 1 2 3 4 5 6
appear on a die are as follows Calculate r and Bottom 5 6 4 3 1 2
R for these values. Are the results surprising?
5. The ranks of two sets of variables (Heights and Weights) are given below. Calculate the
Spearman rank difference correlation coefficient R.
Heights 2 6 8 4 7 4 9.5 4 1 9.5
Weights 9 1 9 4 5 9 2 7 6 3
6. Researchers interested in determining if there is a relationship between death anxiety and
religiosity conducted the following study. Subjects completed a death anxiety scale (high score =
high anxiety) and also completed a checklist designed to measure an individuals degree of
religiosity (belief in a particular religion, regular attendance at religious services, number of times
per week they regularly pray, etc.) (high score = greater religiosity . A data sample is provided
below:
X 38 42 29 31 28 15 24 17 19 11 8 19 3 14 6
y 4 3 11 5 9 6 14 9 10 15 19 17 10 14 18
a) What is your computed answer?
b) What does this statistic mean concerning the relationship between death anxiety and
religiosity?
c) What percent of the variability is accounted for by the relation of these two variables?

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 Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

7. The data given below are obtained from student records.( Grade Point Average (x) and Graduate
Record exam score (y)) Calculate the regression equation and compute the estimated GRE scores
for GPA = 7.5 and 8.5..
X 8.3 8.6 9.2 9.8 8.0 7.8 9.4 9.0 7.2 8.6
y 2300 2250 2380 2400 2000 2100 2360 2350 2000 2260
8. A horse was subject to the test of how many minutes it takes to reach a point from the starting
point. The horse was made to carry luggage of various weights on 10 trials.. The data collected are
presented below in the table. Find the regression equation between the load and the time taken to
reach the goal. Estimate the time taken for the loads of 35 Kgs , 23 Kgs, and 9 Kgs. Are the
answers in agreement with your intuitive feelings? Justify.
Trial Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 8 9 10
Weight (in Kgs) 11 23 16 32 12 28 29 19 25 20
Time taken (in mins) 13 22 16 47 13 39 43 21 32 22
9. A study was conducted to find whether there is any relationship between the weight and blood
pressure of an individual. The following set of data was arrived at from a clinical study.
Weight 78 86 72 822 80 86 84 89 68 71
Blood Pressure 140 160 134 144 180 176 174 178 128 132
10. It is assumed that achievement test scores should be correlated with student's classroom
performance. One would expect that students who consistently perform well in the
classroom (tests, quizes, etc.) would also perform well on a standardized achievement test
(0 - 100 with 100 indicating high achievement (x)). A teacher decides to examine this
hypothesis. At the end of the academic year, she computes a correlation between the
students achievement test scores (she purposefully did not look at this data until after she
submitted students grades) and the overall g.p.a.(y) for each student computed over the
entire year. The data for her class are provided below.
X 98 96 94 88 01 77 86 71 59 63 84 79 75 72 86 85 71 93 90 62
y 3.6 2.7 3.1 4.0 3.2 3.0 3.8 2.6 3.0 2.2 1.7 3.1 2.6 2.9 2.4 3.4 2.8 3.7 3.2 1.6
a) Compute the correlation coefficient.
b) What does this statistic mean concerning the relationship between achievement test
prformance and g.p.a.?
c) What percent of the variability is accounted for by the relationship between the two variables
and what does this statistic mean?
d) What would be the slope and y-intercept for a regression line based on this data?
e) If a student scored a 93 on the achievement test, what would be their predicted G.P.A.? If they
scored a 74? A 88?
11. With the growth of internet service providers, a researcher decides to examine whether there is a
correlation between cost of internet service per month (rounded to the nearest dollar) and degree
of customer satisfaction (on a scale of 1 - 10 with a 1 being not at all satisfied and a 10 being
extremely satisfied). The researcher only includes programs with comparable types of services. A
sample of the data is provided below.
Cost of internet (in $) 11 18 17 15 9 5 12 19 22 25
satisfaction 6 8 10 4 9 6 3 5 2 10
a) Compute the correlation coefficient.
b) What does this statistic mean concerning the relationship between amount of money spent
per month on internet provider service and level of customer satisfaction?
c) What percent of the variability is accounted for by the relationship between the two variables
and what does this statistic mean?
12. It is hypothesized that there are fluctuations in norepinephrine (NE) levels which accompany
fluctuations in affect with bipolar affective disorder (manic-depressive illness). Thus, during
depressive states, NE levels drop; during manic states, NE levels increase. To test this
relationship, researchers measured the level of NE by measuring the metabolite 3-methoxy-4-
hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG in micro gram per 24 hour) in the patient's urine experiencing
varying levels of mania/depression. Increased levels of MHPG are correlated with increased

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Time is precious, but we do not know yet how precious it really is. We will only know when we are no longer able to take advantage of it…

metabolism (thus higher levels) of central nervous system NE. Levels of mania/depression were
also recorded on a scale with a low score indicating increased mania and a high score increased
depression. The data is provided below.
MHPG 980 1209 1403 1950 1814 1280 1073 1066 880 776
Affect 22 26 8 10 5 19 26 12 23 28
a) Compute the correlation coefficient.
b) What does this statistic mean concerning the relationship between MHPG levels and affect?
c) What percent of the variability is accounted for by the relationship between the two variables?
d) What would be the slope and y-intercept for a regression line based on this data?
e) What is the predicted affect score for an individual with MHPG level of; 1100, 950, 700?
13. The table below contains 25 cases -- the mother’s weight in kilograms and the infant's
birth weight in grams. Does this data suggest some relationship between the mother's
weight and the infant's birth weight Why would such a relationship be important
. Prepregnancy Weights of Mothers and Birthweights of their Infants
Case Number Mother's Weight (kg) Infant's Birthweight (g)
1 49.4 3515
2 63.5 3742
3 68.0 3629
4 52.2 2680
5 54.4 3006
6 70.3 4068
7 50.8 3373
8 73.9 4124
9 65.8 3572
10 54.4 3359
11 73.5 3230
12 59.0 3572
13 61.2 3062
14 52.2 3374
15 63.1 2722
16 65.8 3345
17 61.2 3714
18 55.8 2991
19 61.2 4026
20 56.7 2920
21 63.5 4152
22 59.0 2977
23 49.9 2764
24 65.8 2920
25 43.1 2693

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