Question

the table shows the average number of hours of daylight per day for the last four months of the year. what is the correlation coefficient for the data in the table? monthly daylight hours month of the year average hours of daylight per day 9 12.37 10 11.37 11 10.57 12 10

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze the trend

As the month number (9, 10, 11, 12) increases, the average hours of daylight (12.37, 11.37, 10.57, 10) decreases. So the correlation is negative.

Step2: Consider the strength

The values are closely following a decreasing linear - like pattern. A correlation coefficient of - 0.993 indicates a very strong negative correlation, while - 0.791 is a moderately strong negative correlation. Since the data points seem to follow a near - perfect negative linear trend (the differences in \(x\) (month) and \(y\) (daylight hours) are relatively consistent in a negative direction), we can infer the stronger negative correlation.

Answer:

-0.993