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ERIC Number: EJ907617
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Dec
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1043-4046
EISSN: N/A
Explorations in Statistics: Correlation
Curran-Everett, Douglas
Advances in Physiology Education, v34 n4 p186-191 Dec 2010
Learning about statistics is a lot like learning about science: the learning is more meaningful if you can actively explore. This sixth installment of "Explorations in Statistics" explores correlation, a familiar technique that estimates the magnitude of a straight-line relationship between two variables. Correlation is meaningful only when the two variables are true random variables: for example, if we restrict in some way the variability of one variable, then the magnitude of the correlation will decrease. Correlation cannot help us decide if changes in one variable result in changes in the second variable, if changes in the second variable result in changes in the first variable, or if changes in a third variable result in concurrent changes in the first two variables. Correlation can help provide us with evidence that study of the nature of the relationship between x and y may be warranted in an actual experiment in which one of them is controlled. (Contains 7 footnotes, 1 table, and 10 figures.)
American Physiological Society. 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814-3991. Tel: 301-634-7164; Fax: 301-634-7241; e-mail: webmaster@the-aps.org; Web site: http://advan.physiology.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A