Question

11/5 unit 3 - correlation - quiz
possible points: 2
diego makes a scatter plot showing the relationship between the number of school events in a month and the number of students visiting the library that
month.
the correlation coefficient for the line of best fit is -0.28.
a. are these variables correlated? explain your reasoning.
b. does either variable cause the other to change? explain your reasoning.
0 / 10000 word limit

Explanation:

a. Correlation coefficient \(r = - 0.28\). Since \(r
eq0\), there is a correlation. The negative sign indicates a negative relationship (as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease), and the magnitude \(|r| = 0.28\) (less than \(0.5\)) shows a weak correlation.
b. Correlation does not imply causation. Just because there is a weak negative correlation between the number of school events and library - visiting students does not mean one variable causes the other. There could be confounding variables (e.g., a third factor like a school - wide project that affects both event attendance and library use differently).

Answer:

a. Yes, the variables are correlated. The correlation coefficient \(r=-0.28
eq0\), indicating a weak negative correlation.
b. No, correlation does not imply causation. There could be other factors influencing both variables.