Module 10 Flashcards
What is the goal of a correlation test?
to evaluate whether there is an association between two numerical variables. asks whether one variable trends up (or down) as the other changes
What is a correlation test?
- the measure of association between two numerical variables.
- The correlation coefficient can take on values from ⍴=-1, which indicates perfect negative association, to ⍴=0 indicating no association, to ⍴=1 indicating a perfect positive association.
- no implied causation between the variables
- both variables are assumed to have variation (both have comparable amounts of variation among sampling units)
- not used for prediction- only used to evaluate the association between variables
What is association?
Is a pattern whereby one variable increases (or decreases) with a change in another variable. There is no implied causation between the varaibles.
How is the strength of association measured?
by pearsons correlation coefficient. the correlation coefficient can take on values between p=-1 to p=1.
What does a correlation coefficient of p=-1 mean?
indicates a perfect negative correlation
what does a correlation coefficient of p=0 mean?
indicates no association
what does a correlation coefficient of p=1 mean?
indicates a perfect positive correlation
What is the correlation coefficient?
the statistical test used to evaluate a sample coeffiecient against a null hypothesis
What are the assumptions behind a correlation test?
- each pair of numerical values is measured on the same sampling unit
- numerical values come from continuous numerical distributions with non zero variation
- if there is an association between the variables, it is a straight line
what is the bivariate normal distribution?
an extension of the normal distribution for two numerical variables that allows for an association between them. the countour lines are slices through the bivariate normal distribution.
What are the null and alternative hypothesis for the correlation coefficient/
null=correlation coefficient is zero
alternative=the correlation coefficient is not zero
What is the null distribution for a correlation test?
the sampling distribution of correlation coefficients from a statistical population where there is no association between the variables (ex. p=0)
What is the correlation test based on?
t-distribution
How do you conduct the hypothesis test for a correlation test?
- locate the critical t score that corresponds to the type 1 error rate on t-distribution
- compare that to the observed t score
- statistical decision is made either by comparing the observed and critical t score or by comparing the corresponding p value and type one error rate
if the observed score is greater than the critical score, then we reject the null hypothesis.
if the observed score is less than or equal to the critical score, we fail to reject the null hypothesis