Meaning & use

correlation coefficient

noun·Academic

A statistical measure, ranging from -1 to 1, that shows the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

See it in a sentence

The correlation coefficient between study hours and test scores was close to 0.8.

A correlation coefficient near zero suggests that the two variables have little linear relationship.

A note on using this word

A correlation coefficient near 1 or -1 indicates a strong relationship, but correlation alone never proves that one variable causes the other.

Words with a similar meaning

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