Some more Correlations and the reason why we do studies

Just a few correlations to keep in mind when you hear that some event is “statistically” correlated to another.

The correlation coefficient ranges from −1 to 1. A value of 1 implies that a linear equation describes the relationship between X and Y perfectly, with all data points lying on a line for which Y increases as X increases. A value of −1 implies that all data points lie on a line for which Y decreases as X increases. A value of 0 implies that there is no linear correlation between the variables

  • –1.0 A perfect negative relationship

  • –0.70. A strong negative relationship

  • –0.50. A moderate negative relationship

  • –0.30. A weak negative relationship

  • 0.0 No linear relationship

  • +0.30. A weak positive relationship

  • +0.50. A moderate positive relationship

  • +0.70. A strong positive relationship

  • +1.0 A perfect positive relationship

So let’s have a look at some very strong correlations:

US Spending vs Suicides (Correlation r=0.99789126)

Space-vs-Suicides.jpeg

Cheese vs Death Bed-sheets (Correlation r=0.947091)

Cheese-vs-Death.jpeg

Divorce Rate vs Margarine (Correlation r=0.992558)

Divorce-vs-Margarine.jpeg

Miss America vs Murders by Steam (Correlation r=0.870127)

Miss-vs-Murders.jpeg

See other Spurious Correlations at tylervigen.com