Correlation Doesn’t Mean Cause

Name: ___________________________
Directions: Graph the following linear inequalities.

1. Identify the following scatter plots as having a positive correlation,

negative correlation, or no correlation. Explain your reasoning.
a. Scatter Plot 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The points are widely scattered. There is no correlation.

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 b. Scatter Plot 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

There is a fairly strong negative correlation.

c. Scatter Plot 3
percent

80

60

40

20

0
10 20 30 40 50 60
age

The points are widely scattered. There is no correlation.

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 d. Scatter Plot 4

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25

There is a fairly strong positive correlation.

2. The following are correlation coefficients for independent and dependent

variables. Based on the coefficients, analyze the data and describe the
correlation between the independent and dependent variables.
a.
0.95

Strong positive correlation

b. -0.45

Weak negative correlation

c.
0.80

Strong positive correlation

d. -0.99

Weak negative correlation

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3. Use the following table to answer questions (a – c).

x 1 2 3 4 7 8 10
y 1 3 6 2 9 6 7

a. Graph the points above as a scatter plot.

b. Calculate the correlation coefficient.

0.79

c. Based on your calculation in part (b) describe the correlation between the
x and y. Explain your reasoning.

The tendency is that if the values of X increase, the values of Y also increase

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4. Use the following table to answer questions (a – c).

x 1 2 3 4 7 8 10
y 9 7 6 1 -2 -5 -8

a. Graph the points above as a scatter plot.

b. Calculate the correlation coefficient.

-0.99

c. Based on your calculation in part (b) describe the correlation between the
x and y. Explain your reasoning.

It's a almost perfect correlation because it can describe a straight line.

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5. The data below are the heights of mothers (x values) and their corresponding
daughters (y values).

x y
63 59
67 65
64 65
60 61
65 65
67 67
59 61
60 63
58 60
72 71
63 62

a. Calculate the correlation coefficient of the data.

0.40

b. Based on the correlation coefficient, is there a correlation between the

heights of daughters and mothers? Explain your answer.

There is a very low correlation between the heights of daughters and mothers.

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6. A person’s lean body mass measures how much non-fat mass a person has.
This includes bones, muscles and organs. A person’s metabolic rate is how
much energy a body burns while at rest. Below are the body mass and
metabolic rates for 12 people.
body mass metabolic
(in kg) rate (cal/day)
36.1 0995
54.6 1425
48.5 1396
42.0 1418
50.6 1502
42.0 1256
40.3 1189
33.1 0913
42.4 1124
34.5 1052
51.1 1347
41.2 1204
a. Create a scatter plot for the body masses and metabolic rates.

Continue on the following page.

 b. Calculate the correlation coefficient.

0.88

c. Use the scatter plot and the correlation coefficient to explain if there is a
correlation between body mass and metabolic rate.

Yes there is a good correlation.

d. Will a person’s body mass go up if their metabolic rate goes up? Explain
your answer.

Yes because it is a positive correlation.