One student conducts a study on the relationship between people’s level of extroversion and the number of close friends they have. He computes Pearson’s r, which comes out to be – 1.70. Which of the following is most clearly true?
A. The relationship between the two variables is weak.
B. More extroverted people have fewer friends.
C. He should use a bar graph to display his results.
D. He made an error in computing Pearson’s r.
Correct me if I m wrong but I do think the variables are weak. So I think choice A would be correct. Any help would be appreciated
Disagree. What is the maximum value you can have for a correlation coefficient?
Based on the given information, there appears to be an error in the computation of Pearson's r.
Pearson's r, also known as the correlation coefficient, ranges from -1 to +1. A negative value indicates an inverse relationship between the variables, meaning that as one variable increases, the other variable decreases. However, a value of -1.70 is not within the valid range.
Therefore, the correct answer is D. He made an error in computing Pearson's r.
To explain how to get the answer, you need to understand the meaning of the correlation coefficient and its valid range. Additionally, you should be familiar with the concept of inverse relationships between variables. In this case, recognizing that a value outside the valid range indicates an error is key to selecting the correct answer.