Scattter Plots & Correlation

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What is a scatter plot?

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A scatter plot is a graph that displays values for typically two variables for a set of data. Each point represents an observation in the dataset.

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What does positive correlation mean in a scatter plot?

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Positive correlation means that as one variable increases, the other variable also tends to increase.

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What does negative correlation mean in a scatter plot?

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Negative correlation means that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease.

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What does no correlation mean in a scatter plot?

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No correlation means that there is no apparent relationship between the two variables; changes in one variable do not predict changes in the other.

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How can you determine the correlation from a scatter plot?

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You can determine correlation by observing the direction and pattern of the points: upward slope indicates positive correlation, downward slope indicates negative correlation, and a random pattern indicates no correlation.

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What is the purpose of using scatter plots?

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Scatter plots are used to visually assess the relationship between two quantitative variables.

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What is an example of positive correlation?

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An example of positive correlation is the relationship between hours studied and test scores; generally, more hours studied lead to higher test scores.

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What is an example of negative correlation?

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An example of negative correlation is the relationship between the amount of gas in a tank and the distance a car can travel; as gas decreases, the distance the car can travel also decreases.

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What is an example of no correlation?

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An example of no correlation is the relationship between shoe size and intelligence; there is no predictable relationship between these two variables.

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What is the correlation coefficient?

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The correlation coefficient is a numerical measure of the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables, ranging from -1 to 1.