Module 7: LINEAR CORRELATION

At the end of the module the students should be able to:

1. illustrate the nature of bivariate data;

2. identify independent and dependent variables;
3. construct a scatter plot and identify the relationship of the data plots;
4. calculate the Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Spearman Rank
Correlation, and
5. solve problems involving correlation analysis.

Bivariate Data

Bivariate data deals with two variables that can change and are compared to find
relationships. If one variable is influencing another variable, then you will have bivariate
data that has an independent and a dependent variable. This is because one variable
depends on the other for change.
Example1. A researcher wanted to know the relationship of students’ math grades to
their age. This study has two variables math grade and age.
Independent Variable
Is a condition or piece of data in an experiment that can be controlled or changed.
Dependent Variable
Is a condition or piece of data in an experiment that is controlled or influenced by
an outside factor, most often the independent variable.

Example 1. The more time people spend using social media, the less they read books.
Independent Variable: Time on Social Media
Dependent Variable: Less books read
Example 2. Drinking energy drinks makes people more aggressive.
Independent Variable: Drinking energy drinks
Dependent Variable: Aggressive behavior
Example 3. Taking a nap in the afternoon makes people more focused for the rest of
the day.
Independent Variable: Time spent napping in the afternoon
Dependent Variable: Focus
Module 7
Name:______________________________________Score:_________________
Section:_____________________________________Date:__________________

Activity 1
Bivariate Data

I. Answer the following.

1. Differentiate univariate from bivariate data.

2. Give five examples of bivariate data.

3. Determine the independent variable and dependent variable in the following situations.
a. The height of bean plants depends on the amount of water they receive.
Independent Variable: ________________________
Dependent Variable: ________________________
b. Spending time with a family dog decreases the amount of stress someone is
feeling.
Independent Variable: ________________________
Dependent Variable: ________________________
c. Eating breakfast in the morning increases the ability to learn in school.
Independent Variable: ________________________
Dependent Variable: ________________________
d. A comprehension test was given to students after they had studied textbook
material either in silence or with the television turned on.
Independent Variable: ________________________
Dependent Variable: ________________________
e. Workers at a company were assigned to one of two conditions: One group
completed a stress management training program; another group of workers did
not participate in the training. The number of sick days taken by these workers was
examined for the next 2 months.
Independent Variable: ________________________
Dependent Variable: ________________________
Correlation
Correlation means association - more precisely it is a measure of the extent to
which two variables are related. There are three possible results of a correlational study:
a positive correlation, a negative correlation, and no correlation.
A positive correlation is a relationship between two variables in which both variables
move in the same direction. Therefore, when one variable increases as the other variable
increases, or one variable decrease while the other decreases. An example of positive
correlation would be height and weight. Taller people tend to be heavier.

A negative correlation is a relationship between two variables in which an increase in

one variable is associated with a decrease in the other. An example of negative
correlation would be height above sea level and temperature. As you climb the mountain
(increase in height) it gets colder (decrease in temperature).

A zero correlation exists when there is no relationship between two variables. For
example, there is no relationship between the amount of tea drunk and level of
intelligence.

Scatter Plot
A correlation can be expressed visually. This is done by drawing a scatter plot
(also known as a scatter gram, scatter graph, scatter chart, or scatter diagram).
A scatter plot is a graphical display that shows the relationships or associations
between two numerical variables (or co-variables), which are represented as points (or
dots) for each pair of score.
A scatter plot indicates the strength and direction of the correlation between the
co-variables.
Example 1. The table below shows the time in hours (x) spent by six grade 11 students
studying their lesson and their scores (y) on a test. Construct a scatter plot.
Time Spent (X) 1 2 3 4 5 6
Score (Y) 5 15 10 15 30 35

The points on the xy coordinate

plane seem to follow a straight line
that points upward right.
This indicates that the two
variables are linearly related and the
relationship between the variables is
positive.
The scatter plot represents a
POSITIVE CORRELATION.

Example 2. Construct the scatter plot of the table below that shows the time in hours
spent by six students in palying computer games and the scores these students got in a
math test.

Time Spent (X) 1 2 3 4 5 6

Math Score (Y) 30 25 25 10 15 5

The points on the xy coordinate

plane seem to follow a straight line
that points downward to the right.
This indicates that the two
variables are linearly related and the
References relationship between variables is
negative.
The scatter plot represents a
NEGATIVE CORRELATION.

Example 3. Construct the scatter plot of the table below that shows the number of selfies
posted online of students and the scores they obtained from the science test.
Number of Selfies 1 2 3 4 5 6
Score in Science Test 25 5 20 40 25 9

The points on the xy coordinate

plane seem not to follow a straight
line. The points are neither downward
to the right or upward right.

This indicates that there is no

correlation between the number of
selfies posted online and the score
obtained in a science test.
Example 4. The data below shows the number of composition notebooks and the
corresponding costs. The cost per composition notebook is ₱25. Construct a scatter plot
using these data.

# of Notebooks 1 2 3 4 5 6
Price (₱) 25 50 75 100 125 150

The points are all on a straight line

that points upward to the right.

This indicate that there is a perfect

positive correlation between the two
variables.

Example 5. Norman and Beth traveled from City A to City B. They traveled at a constant
rate of 40 kph. The distance between City A and City B is 280 kilometers. Beth decided
to write on a piece of paper the distance they travel after 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, and so
on until they reach City B. These are shown in the following table. Create a scatter plot
for the gathered points.

# of Hours 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Distance Covered 240 200 160 120 80 40 0

All the points in the scatter plot are

on a straight line that points
downward to the right.

This indicate that there is a perfect

negative correlation between the two
variables.
Module 7
Name:______________________________________Score:_________________
Section:_____________________________________Date:__________________

Activity 2
Scatter Plot

I. Using the given data, do the following:

a. constructs a scatter plot;
b. determines the direction of the straight line that the data points seem to follow.
c. determines the strength of correlation between the two variables depicted in
each scatter plot.
1. X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Y 15 20 20 25 32 30 35 22

2. X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Y 30 50 55 70 35 40 75 45
Strength of Association

Most of the time determining the relationship of two variables can be difficult to
establish using scatter plot. A more define way to determine the relationship of two
variables is to use statistical tools. In this section the used of Pearson product moment
correlation and Spearman Rank correlation will be used.

Here is the correlation scale and the corresponding interpretation of r.

Value of r Interpretation
1 Perfect Correlation
 0.80 − 0.99 High Correlation
 0.60 − 0.79 Moderately High Correlation
 0.40 − 0.59 Moderate Correlation
 0.20 − 0.39 Low Correlation
 0.01 − 0.19 Negligible Correlation
0 No Correlation

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient

The most widely used measure of correlation is the Pearson Product Moment
Correlation Coefficient or Pearson r which was developed by Karl Pearson. This statistic
is used for interval and ratio type of data. If two variables, X and Y, are under investigation,
the correlation coefficient is determined by:

n  XY − ( X )( Y )
r=
n X 2 − ( X )2  n Y 2 − ( Y )2 
       
Example 1. Determine the degree of relationship between the midterm and final grade of
10 students at a certain university.

Student Midterm Grade Final Grade

A 84 85
B 88 89
C 78 86
D 79 83
E 91 88
F 84 87
G 77 81
H 83 86
I 85 82
J 86 85
Solution:

Midterm Final
Student XY X2 Y2
Grade (X) Grade (Y)
A 84 85 7140 7056 7225
B 88 89 7832 7744 7921
C 78 86 6708 6084 7396
D 79 83 6557 6241 6889
E 91 88 8008 8281 7744
F 84 87 7308 1056 7569
G 77 81 6237 5929 6561
H 83 86 7138 6889 7396
I 85 82 6970 7225 6724
J 86 85 7310 7396 7225
 X = 835  Y = 852  XY = 71208  X 2 = 69901  Y 2 = 72650

n  XY − ( X )( Y )
r=
n X 2 − ( X )2  n Y 2 − ( Y )2 
       

10 (71208 ) − (835)(852 ) 660

r= = = 0.64
[10 (69901) − (835) 2 ] [10 (72650) − (852 ) 2 ] (1785) (596)

Interpretation: There is a moderately high positive correlation between the midterm and
final grade of 10 students.

Spearman Rank–Order Correlation Coefficient

The Spearman Rank–Order Correlation Coefficient or Spearman rho (ρ) is

another statistic in determining the correlation coefficient. This statistic is used to find out
if there is a significant relationship between two variables of ordinal type. In some cases,
values from an interval type of data, such as test scores and grade point average, may
be transformed into ranks. To obtain the value of Spearman rho, consider this formula:

6 D 2
ρ =1− where: D is the difference between ranks
n ( n2 − 1)
Example 2. Compute for the value of Spearman rho and determine the degree of
relationship between capital and profit of dried fish.

Solution:

Capital
Businessmen Profit (Y) RX RY D D2
(X)
1 20 000 5 000 6 7 1 1
2 50 000 15 000 3 3.5 –0.5 0.25
3 10 000 3 000 9 9.5 –0.5 0.25
4 100 000 30 000 2 2 0 0
5 18 000 4 000 7 8 –1 1
6 25 000 9 000 5 5 0 0
7 11 000 6 000 8 6 2 4
8 150 000 70 000 1 1 0 0
9 5 000 3 000 10 9.5 0.5 0.25
10 40 000 15 000 4 3.5 0.5 0.25
 D2 = 7

6 D 2 6 (7) 42
 =1− =1− =1− = 0.96
n ( n2 − 1) 10 (10 2 − 1 ) 990

Interpretation: There is a high positive correlation between the capital and profit of 10
businessmen.
Module 7
Name:______________________________________Score:_________________
Section:_____________________________________Date:__________________

Activity 3
Correlation

1. The heights and weights of 10 basketball players in the PBA are randomly selected
from different teams. Calculate the value of Pearson r and interpret the result.

Player Height (X) Weight (Y) XY X2 Y2

A 68 180
B 72 200
C 76 175
D 70 190
E 74 180
F 69 195
G 70 145
H 70 172
I 73 190
J 68 160

2. Compute for the value of Spearman rho and determine the degree of relationship
between weight and height of bottle–fed infants using the same brand of milk.

Weight
Infant Height (Y) RX RY D D2
(X)
1 27 0.70
2 25 0.64
3 28 0.77
4 23 0.62
5 21 0.60
6 20 0.62
7 29 0.77
8 24 0.64
References

✓ https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-bivariate-data-definition-
examples.html
✓ https://chartio.com/learn/charts/what-is-a-scatter-
plot/#:~:text=A%20scatter%20plot%20(aka%20scatter,to%20observe%20relation
ships%20between%20variables.
✓ https://www.simplypsychology.org/correlation.html