Which of the following correlations shows the strongest relationship between variables?
Group of answer choices
-.75 .
22 -.
34 .
62
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is -0.75.
Correlation coefficients range from -1 to +1. The closer the number is to either end of this range, the stronger the relationship between the two variables. A positive value indicates a positive relationship, where as one variable increases, the other also increases. A negative value indicates a negative relationship, where one variable increases as the other decreases.
In this case:
- -0.75 represents a strong negative relationship. As one variable increases, the other decreases, and the relationship is strong because the coefficient is close to -1.
- 0.62 represents a moderate positive relationship, where as one variable increases, the other tends to increase as well, but the relationship is weaker than -0.75.
- -0.34 represents a weak negative relationship. It’s still a negative correlation, but it’s not as strong as -0.75.
- 0.22 represents a weak positive relationship, meaning there is a slight tendency for both variables to increase together, but the relationship is very weak.
Thus, -0.75 shows the strongest relationship, and because it’s negative, it indicates that as one variable increases, the other decreases with a relatively strong association.