If the Pearson correlation coefficient is -0.85, what does this indicate?

If the Pearson correlation coefficient is -0.85, what does this indicate?

• A. A strong positive linear relationship.
• B. No linear relationship.
• C. A strong negative linear relationship.
• D. A perfect negative relationship.

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is how the Pearson correlation coefficient describes both direction and strength of a linear relationship. It ranges from -1 to 1, where the sign tells you the direction: a negative value means that as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease. The magnitude tells you how strong that linear relationship is: values near 1 or -1 indicate a strong relationship, while values near 0 indicate a weak or no linear relationship. A value of -0.85 is close to -1, so it signals a strong negative linear relationship—there’s a clear downward trend in the data. It’s not a perfect negative relationship (which would be -1), but it’s strong. Remember, correlation measures linear association, not causation, and can be influenced by outliers.

The key idea here is how the Pearson correlation coefficient describes both direction and strength of a linear relationship. It ranges from -1 to 1, where the sign tells you the direction: a negative value means that as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease. The magnitude tells you how strong that linear relationship is: values near 1 or -1 indicate a strong relationship, while values near 0 indicate a weak or no linear relationship. A value of -0.85 is close to -1, so it signals a strong negative linear relationship—there’s a clear downward trend in the data. It’s not a perfect negative relationship (which would be -1), but it’s strong. Remember, correlation measures linear association, not causation, and can be influenced by outliers.