9/28/2018

CORRELATION

WHAT IS
CORRELATION?

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-Simply defined as a
relationship between two
variables
-The degree of relationship
between the variables under
consideration is measure
through the correlation analysis.

-The measure of correlation

called the correlation
coefficient

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Why correlation
is used in
research?

-To figure out which variables

are connected
-To determine the extent to
which to or more variables are
related among a single group of
people

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What is
Correlational
Study?

-An approach to research that

involves measuring different
variables to see whether there is a
predictable relation among
variables

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• Finding Relationships
The goal of some correlational
studies is simply to find out if
variables are related

Correlational
Research
Example

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Consider hypothetically, a researcher is

studying a correlation between cancer
and marriage. In this study, there are two
variables: cancer and marriage. Let us
say marriage has a negative correlation
with cancer. This means that people who
are married are less likely to develop
cancer.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean

that marriage directly avoids cancer. In
correlational research, it is not possible
to establish the fact, what causes what.

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What is
Correlational
Analysis?

• A method of statistical evaluation

used to study the strength of a
relationship between two,
numerically measured, continuous
variables.
• This particular type of analysis is
useful when a researcher wants to
establish if there are possible
connections between variables

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• It is often misunderstood that

correlation analysis determines cause
and effect; however, this is not the
case because other variables that are
not present in the research may have
impacted on the results.

Correlation
and Causation

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• Causation means cause & effect

relation.
• Correlation denotes the
interdependency among the
variables for correlating two
phenomenon

What are the

types of
correlation
type 1?

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• Positive Correlation
-exists if one variable increases
simultaneously with the other, i.e. the
high numerical values of one variable
relate to the high numerical values of
the other.

Example:
-The amount of money a person has
might positively correlate with the
number of cars he has.
-Perceived control over life is positively
correlated with life satisfaction: People
who feel in control have greater life
satisfaction.

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• Negative Correlation
-exists if one variable decreases when
the other increases, i.e. the high
numerical values of one variable
relate to the low numerical values of
the other.

Example:
-the level of being educated might
negatively correlate with the crime rate
when an increase in one variable leads
to a decrease in another and vice versa.
This means if in some ways the level of
education in a country is improved, it
can lead to lowering the crime rates.

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Please note, that this doesn’t mean that

lack of education leads to crimes. This
means lack of education and crime is
believed to have a common reason:
poverty.

• No Correlation
- In this third type, two variables
are not correlated. This means a change
in one variable may not necessarily see
a change in the other variable.

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Example:
Being a millionaire and happiness is
not correlated. This means an increase
in money doesn’t lead to happiness.

Direction of
the
Correlation

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• Positive relationship
Variables change in the same
direction.
-As X is increasing, Y is increasing
-As X is decreasing, Y is decreasing
-Example: As height increases, so does
weight.

• Negative Relationship
Variables change in opposite
directions.
-As X is increasing, Y is decreasing
-X is decreasing, Y is increasing
-As TV time increases, grades
decrease

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As TV time increases, grades decrease As TV time

1. Simple Correlation
Under simple correlation problem
there are only two variables are studied.

2. Multiple Correlation
Under Multiple Correlation three or
more than three variables are studied. Ex.
Q d = f ( P,P C, P S, t, y )

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3. Partial correlation
analysis recognizes more than two
variables but considers only two
variables keeping the other constant.

4. Total correlation
is based on all the relevant
variables, which is normally not feasible.

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• Linear correlation
Correlation is said to be linear when
the amount of change in one variable
tends to bear a constant ratio to the
amount of change in the other. The graph
of the variables having a linear relationship
will form a straight line.
Ex: X = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
Y = 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19,
Y = 3 + 2x

• Non Linear correlation

The correlation would be non
linear if the amount of change in one
variable does not bear a constant
ratio to the amount of change in the
other variable.

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How is
correlational
research
different from
experimental
research?

In correlational research we do not

influence any variables but only
measure them and look for relations
between some set of variables, such as
blood pressure and cholesterol level
while in experimental research we
manipulate some variables and then
measure the effects of this
manipulation on other variables.

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THANK
YOU! 

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