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Correlation |
When two social, physical, or biological phenomena increase or decrease proportionately and simultaneously because of identical external factors, the phenomena are correlated positively; under the same conditions, if one increases in the same proportion that the other decreases, the two phenomena are negatively correlated. Investigators calculate the degree of correlation by applying a coefficient of correlation to data concerning the two phenomena. The most common correlation coefficient is expressed as
in which x is the deviation of one variable from its mean, y is the deviation of the other variable from its mean, and N is the total number of cases in the series. A perfect positive correlation between the two variables results in a coefficient of +1, a perfect negative correlation in a coefficient of -1, and a total absence of correlation in a coefficient of 0. Intermediate values between +1 and 0 or -1 are interpreted by degree of correlation. Thus, .89 indicates high positive correlation, -.76 high negative correlation, and .13 low positive correlation.
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