hypothesis testing formula correlation

13.2 Testing the Significance of the Correlation Coefficient

The correlation coefficient, r , tells us about the strength and direction of the linear relationship between X 1 and X 2 .

The sample data are used to compute r , the correlation coefficient for the sample. If we had data for the entire population, we could find the population correlation coefficient. But because we have only sample data, we cannot calculate the population correlation coefficient. The sample correlation coefficient, r , is our estimate of the unknown population correlation coefficient.

• ρ = population correlation coefficient (unknown)
• r = sample correlation coefficient (known; calculated from sample data)

The hypothesis test lets us decide whether the value of the population correlation coefficient ρ is "close to zero" or "significantly different from zero". We decide this based on the sample correlation coefficient r and the sample size n .

If the test concludes that the correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero, we say that the correlation coefficient is "significant."

• Conclusion: There is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant linear relationship between X 1 and X 2 because the correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero.
• What the conclusion means: There is a significant linear relationship X 1 and X 2 . If the test concludes that the correlation coefficient is not significantly different from zero (it is close to zero), we say that correlation coefficient is "not significant".

Performing the Hypothesis Test

• Null Hypothesis: H 0 : ρ = 0
• Alternate Hypothesis: H a : ρ ≠ 0
• Null Hypothesis H 0 : The population correlation coefficient IS NOT significantly different from zero. There IS NOT a significant linear relationship (correlation) between X 1 and X 2 in the population.
• Alternate Hypothesis H a : The population correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero. There is a significant linear relationship (correlation) between X 1 and X 2 in the population.

Drawing a Conclusion There are two methods of making the decision concerning the hypothesis. The test statistic to test this hypothesis is:

Where the second formula is an equivalent form of the test statistic, n is the sample size and the degrees of freedom are n-2. This is a t-statistic and operates in the same way as other t tests. Calculate the t-value and compare that with the critical value from the t-table at the appropriate degrees of freedom and the level of confidence you wish to maintain. If the calculated value is in the tail then cannot accept the null hypothesis that there is no linear relationship between these two independent random variables. If the calculated t-value is NOT in the tailed then cannot reject the null hypothesis that there is no linear relationship between the two variables.

A quick shorthand way to test correlations is the relationship between the sample size and the correlation. If:

then this implies that the correlation between the two variables demonstrates that a linear relationship exists and is statistically significant at approximately the 0.05 level of significance. As the formula indicates, there is an inverse relationship between the sample size and the required correlation for significance of a linear relationship. With only 10 observations, the required correlation for significance is 0.6325, for 30 observations the required correlation for significance decreases to 0.3651 and at 100 observations the required level is only 0.2000.

Correlations may be helpful in visualizing the data, but are not appropriately used to "explain" a relationship between two variables. Perhaps no single statistic is more misused than the correlation coefficient. Citing correlations between health conditions and everything from place of residence to eye color have the effect of implying a cause and effect relationship. This simply cannot be accomplished with a correlation coefficient. The correlation coefficient is, of course, innocent of this misinterpretation. It is the duty of the analyst to use a statistic that is designed to test for cause and effect relationships and report only those results if they are intending to make such a claim. The problem is that passing this more rigorous test is difficult so lazy and/or unscrupulous "researchers" fall back on correlations when they cannot make their case legitimately.

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Statistics By Jim

Making statistics intuitive

Correlation Coefficient Formula Walkthrough

By Jim Frost 1 Comment

Pearson’s correlation coefficient formula produces a number ranging from -1 to +1, quantifying the strength and direction of a relationship between two continuous variables . A correlation of -1 means a perfect negative relationship, +1 represents a perfect positive relationship, and 0 indicates no relationship.

In this post, you’ll learn about the correlation coefficient formula and gain insight into how it works. Then we’ll work through an example calculation so you learn how to find the correlation coefficient.

For more information specifically about interpretations, read my post, Interpreting Correlation Coefficients .

Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient Formula

The equation might initially seem daunting, but we’re here to demystify it.

So, let’s take a look at the formula itself. The Greek symbol ρ (rho) represents Pearson’s correlation coefficient.

The correlation coefficient formula is the following fraction:

• Xᵢ and Yᵢ represent the individual values of variables X and Y.
• X̄ and Ȳ denote their respective means.
• N represents the number of observations.
• s x and s y represent the sample standard deviations of X and Y.

By understanding the correlation formula and how it works as a fraction, you can gain insight into how it assesses the data.

You can also use this formula to calculate Spearman’s correlation that uses ranks rather than raw data values.

How the Correlation Coefficient Formula Works

The correlation formula works by comparing each variable’s observed values to their means in the numerator, as shown below.

The product in the correlation coefficient formula’s numerator produces a greater number of positive values to add to the sum when the following conditions tend to occur:

• Above-average X values correspond with above-average Y values.
• Below-average X values correspond with below-average Y values.

A positive sum in the numerator produces a positive correlation.

Conversely, when above-average values for one variable tend to correspond with below-average values of the other, the numerator produces a greater number of negative values to subtract from the total. A negative sum in the numerator produces a negative correlation .

In this manner, the correlation formula assesses the co-variability of two variables around their respective means.

Denominator

The denominator of the correlation coefficient formula divides the numerator by the product of the degrees of freedom and the two standard deviations. The denominator is always positive because degrees of freedom and standard deviations are always positive values.

The numerator can be positive or negative but its absolute value can never be larger than the denominator, which is how the equation scales correlation coefficients to fit the range of -1 to +1.

Covariance vs Correlation

Before working through the correlation coefficient formula, let’s look at how this equation is similar to the covariance formula and the crucial difference.

You find the covariance if you take the correlation coefficient formula’s numerator and only the (n – 1) in the denominator, as shown below.

Dividing by the extra s X s y bit in the denominator takes you from covariance to correlation. That’s the difference between the two statistical measures. That “extra bit” is the product of the standard deviations of X and Y, and it does two critical things.

First, it takes the -∞ to +∞ covariance range and scales it to the correlation coefficient’s easier-to-interpret -1 to +1 range.

Second, standard deviations use the original data units. Including both SDs in the denominator removes those units from the equation because they’re also in the numerator. Consequently, unlike the covariance, the correlation coefficient formula’s result is unitless and doesn’t change depending on the measurement units.

Suppose you are assessing the relationship between height and weight. If you were to change the height measurements from inches to centimeters, that would affect the covariance but not the correlation. You can even compare correlation coefficients between entirely dissimilar studies.

In summary, the standardized range and unitless nature make correlation far easier to interpret than covariance.

Learn more about Covariance: Definition, Formula & Example and Covariance vs Correlation: Understanding the Differences .

How to Find the Correlation Coefficient Worked Example

Let’s work through an example using the correlation formula to illustrate how to find the coefficient. Suppose we want to evaluate the relationship between the number of hours studied (X) and the test scores (Y) obtained by a group of five students. The data are below.

For simplicity, I’ll split the calculations between the numerator and denominator and then divide them in the final step.

To start, we need to find the mean of both variables to use in the correlation formula.

X̄ = (3 + 5 + 2 + 7 + 4) / 5 = 4.2

Ȳ = (70 + 80 + 60 + 90 + 75) / 5 = 75

Then, follow these steps to calculate the numerator in the correlation coefficient formula:

• Calculate the differences between the observed X and Y values and each variable’s mean.
• Multiply those differences for each X and Y pair.
• Sum those products.

Notice that the product column contains all positive values because above average X-values correspond with above average Y-values. Corresponding below average values similarly produce positive values because the product of two negatives is a positive.

These positive products produce a positive total for the numerator. So, we know that we’ll have a positive correlation coefficient. We’ll use the total in the numerator of the correlation formula to calculate the coefficient’s value.

For the denominator of the correlation coefficient formula, we need to calculate the product of the degrees of freedom, the standard deviation of X, and the standard deviation of Y:

(n – 1) * s x * s y

N is the number of paired observations, usually the number of rows in your dataset without missing values. We have 5 observations, so n – 1 = 4.

I cover how to calculate the standard deviation elsewhere. So, for this example, I’ll have Excel calculate the sample standard deviations for X and Y, which are 1.92 and 11.18, respectively.

We just multiply all these values together for the denominator.

4 * 1.92 * 11.18 = 86.02

Calculating the Correlation

At this point of the correlation coefficient formula, we just divide the numerator by the denominator to find the coefficient!

For these data, the correlation between hours of studying and test scores is 0.99. That’s a strong positive relationship. The more you study, the higher your score. This correlation is unrealistically high, but these are made-up data.

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November 30, 2023 at 8:18 pm

Hi, great blog, keep it up, sir. Is the formula above a formula for a sample standard deviation or for the population standard deviation? If the populations from where you draw the values Xi, Yi are infinite, don’t you have issues with the infinite sum converging?

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Module 12: Linear Regression and Correlation

Testing the significance of the correlation coefficient, learning outcomes.

• Calculate and interpret the correlation coefficient

The correlation coefficient,  r , tells us about the strength and direction of the linear relationship between x and y . However, the reliability of the linear model also depends on how many observed data points are in the sample. We need to look at both the value of the correlation coefficient r and the sample size n , together.

We perform a hypothesis test of the “ significance of the correlation coefficient ” to decide whether the linear relationship in the sample data is strong enough to use to model the relationship in the population.

The sample data are used to compute  r , the correlation coefficient for the sample. If we had data for the entire population, we could find the population correlation coefficient. But because we have only have sample data, we cannot calculate the population correlation coefficient. The sample correlation coefficient, r , is our estimate of the unknown population correlation coefficient.

• The symbol for the population correlation coefficient is ρ , the Greek letter “rho.”
• ρ = population correlation coefficient (unknown)
• r = sample correlation coefficient (known; calculated from sample data)

The hypothesis test lets us decide whether the value of the population correlation coefficient ρ is “close to zero” or “significantly different from zero”. We decide this based on the sample correlation coefficient r and the sample size n .

If the test concludes that the correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero, we say that the correlation coefficient is “significant.” Conclusion: There is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant linear relationship between x and y because the correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero. What the conclusion means: There is a significant linear relationship between x and y . We can use the regression line to model the linear relationship between x and y in the population.

If the test concludes that the correlation coefficient is not significantly different from zero (it is close to zero), we say that correlation coefficient is “not significant.”

Conclusion: “There is insufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant linear relationship between x and y because the correlation coefficient is not significantly different from zero.” What the conclusion means: There is not a significant linear relationship between x and y . Therefore, we CANNOT use the regression line to model a linear relationship between x and y in the population.

• If r is significant and the scatter plot shows a linear trend, the line can be used to predict the value of y for values of x that are within the domain of observed x values.
• If r is not significant OR if the scatter plot does not show a linear trend, the line should not be used for prediction.
• If r is significant and if the scatter plot shows a linear trend, the line may NOT be appropriate or reliable for prediction OUTSIDE the domain of observed x values in the data.

Performing the Hypothesis Test

• Null Hypothesis: H 0 : ρ = 0
• Alternate Hypothesis: H a : ρ ≠ 0

What the Hypotheses Mean in Words

• Null Hypothesis H 0 : The population correlation coefficient IS NOT significantly different from zero. There IS NOT a significant linear relationship(correlation) between x and y in the population.
• Alternate Hypothesis H a : The population correlation coefficient IS significantly DIFFERENT FROM zero. There IS A SIGNIFICANT LINEAR RELATIONSHIP (correlation) between x and y in the population.

Drawing a Conclusion

There are two methods of making the decision. The two methods are equivalent and give the same result.

• Method 1: Using the p -value
• Method 2: Using a table of critical values

In this chapter of this textbook, we will always use a significance level of 5%,  α = 0.05

Using the  p -value method, you could choose any appropriate significance level you want; you are not limited to using α = 0.05. But the table of critical values provided in this textbook assumes that we are using a significance level of 5%, α = 0.05. (If we wanted to use a different significance level than 5% with the critical value method, we would need different tables of critical values that are not provided in this textbook.)

Method 1: Using a p -value to make a decision

To calculate the  p -value using LinRegTTEST:

• On the LinRegTTEST input screen, on the line prompt for β or ρ , highlight “≠ 0”
• The output screen shows the p-value on the line that reads “p =”.
• (Most computer statistical software can calculate the p -value.)

If the p -value is less than the significance level ( α = 0.05)

• Decision: Reject the null hypothesis.
• Conclusion: “There is sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant linear relationship between x and y because the correlation coefficient is significantly different from zero.”

If the p -value is NOT less than the significance level ( α = 0.05)

• Decision: DO NOT REJECT the null hypothesis.
• Conclusion: “There is insufficient evidence to conclude that there is a significant linear relationship between x and y because the correlation coefficient is NOT significantly different from zero.”

Calculation Notes:

• You will use technology to calculate the p -value. The following describes the calculations to compute the test statistics and the p -value:
• The p -value is calculated using a t -distribution with n – 2 degrees of freedom.
• The formula for the test statistic is [latex]\displaystyle{t}=\frac{{{r}\sqrt{{{n}-{2}}}}}{\sqrt{{{1}-{r}^{{2}}}}}[/latex]. The value of the test statistic, t , is shown in the computer or calculator output along with the p -value. The test statistic t has the same sign as the correlation coefficient r .
• The p -value is the combined area in both tails.

An alternative way to calculate the  p -value (p) given by LinRegTTest is the command 2*tcdf(abs(t),10^99, n-2) in 2nd DISTR.

Method 2: Using a table of Critical Values to make a decision

The 95% Critical Values of the Sample Correlation Coefficient Table can be used to give you a good idea of whether the computed value of is significant or not. Compare  r to the appropriate critical value in the table. If r is not between the positive and negative critical values, then the correlation coefficient is significant. If r is significant, then you may want to use the line for prediction.

Suppose you computed  r = 0.801 using n = 10 data points. df = n – 2 = 10 – 2 = 8. The critical values associated with df = 8 are -0.632 and + 0.632. If r < negative critical value or r > positive critical value, then r is  significant . Since r = 0.801 and 0.801 > 0.632, r is significant and the line may be used for prediction. If you view this example on a number line, it will help you.

For a given line of best fit, you computed that  r = 0.6501 using n = 12 data points and the critical value is 0.576. Can the line be used for prediction? Why or why not?

If the scatter plot looks linear then, yes, the line can be used for prediction, because  r > the positive critical value.

Suppose you computed  r = –0.624 with 14 data points. df = 14 – 2 = 12. The critical values are –0.532 and 0.532. Since –0.624 < –0.532, r is significant and the line can be used for prediction

For a given line of best fit, you compute that  r = 0.5204 using n = 9 data points, and the critical value is 0.666. Can the line be used for prediction? Why or why not?

No, the line cannot be used for prediction, because  r < the positive critical value.

Suppose you computed  r = 0.776 and n = 6. df = 6 – 2 = 4. The critical values are –0.811 and 0.811. Since –0.811 < 0.776 < 0.811, r is not significant, and the line should not be used for prediction.

–0.811 <  r = 0.776 < 0.811. Therefore, r is not significant.

For a given line of best fit, you compute that  r = –0.7204 using n = 8 data points, and the critical value is = 0.707. Can the line be used for prediction? Why or why not?

Yes, the line can be used for prediction, because  r < the negative critical value.

Suppose you computed the following correlation coefficients. Using the table at the end of the chapter, determine if  r is significant and the line of best fit associated with each r can be used to predict a y value. If it helps, draw a number line.

• r = –0.567 and the sample size, n , is 19. The df = n – 2 = 17. The critical value is –0.456. –0.567 < –0.456 so r is significant.
• r = 0.708 and the sample size, n , is nine. The df = n – 2 = 7. The critical value is 0.666. 0.708 > 0.666 so r is significant.
• r = 0.134 and the sample size, n , is 14. The df = 14 – 2 = 12. The critical value is 0.532. 0.134 is between –0.532 and 0.532 so r is not significant.
• r = 0 and the sample size, n , is five. No matter what the dfs are, r = 0 is between the two critical values so r is not significant.

For a given line of best fit, you compute that  r = 0 using n = 100 data points. Can the line be used for prediction? Why or why not?

No, the line cannot be used for prediction no matter what the sample size is.

Assumptions in Testing the Significance of the Correlation Coefficient

Testing the significance of the correlation coefficient requires that certain assumptions about the data are satisfied. The premise of this test is that the data are a sample of observed points taken from a larger population. We have not examined the entire population because it is not possible or feasible to do so. We are examining the sample to draw a conclusion about whether the linear relationship that we see between x and y in the sample data provides strong enough evidence so that we can conclude that there is a linear relationship between x and y in the population.

The regression line equation that we calculate from the sample data gives the best-fit line for our particular sample. We want to use this best-fit line for the sample as an estimate of the best-fit line for the population. Examining the scatterplot and testing the significance of the correlation coefficient helps us determine if it is appropriate to do this.

The assumptions underlying the test of significance are:

• There is a linear relationship in the population that models the average value of y for varying values of x . In other words, the expected value of y for each particular value lies on a straight line in the population. (We do not know the equation for the line for the population. Our regression line from the sample is our best estimate of this line in the population.)
• The y values for any particular x value are normally distributed about the line. This implies that there are more y values scattered closer to the line than are scattered farther away. Assumption (1) implies that these normal distributions are centered on the line: the means of these normal distributions of y values lie on the line.
• The standard deviations of the population y values about the line are equal for each value of x . In other words, each of these normal distributions of y values has the same shape and spread about the line.
• The residual errors are mutually independent (no pattern).
• The data are produced from a well-designed, random sample or randomized experiment.

The  y values for each x value are normally distributed about the line with the same standard deviation. For each x value, the mean of the y values lies on the regression line. More y values lie near the line than are scattered further away from the line.

Concept Review

Linear regression is a procedure for fitting a straight line of the form [latex]\displaystyle\hat{{y}}={a}+{b}{x}[/latex] to data. The conditions for regression are:

• Linear: In the population, there is a linear relationship that models the average value of y for different values of x .
• Independent: The residuals are assumed to be independent.
• Normal: The y values are distributed normally for any value of x .
• Equal variance: The standard deviation of the y values is equal for each x value.
• Random: The data are produced from a well-designed random sample or randomized experiment.

The slope  b and intercept a of the least-squares line estimate the slope β and intercept α of the population (true) regression line. To estimate the population standard deviation of y , σ , use the standard deviation of the residuals, s .

[latex]\displaystyle{s}=\sqrt{{\frac{{{S}{S}{E}}}{{{n}-{2}}}}}[/latex] The variable ρ (rho) is the population correlation coefficient.

To test the null hypothesis  H 0 : ρ = hypothesized value , use a linear regression t-test. The most common null hypothesis is H 0 : ρ = 0 which indicates there is no linear relationship between x and y in the population.

The TI-83, 83+, 84, 84+ calculator function LinRegTTest can perform this test (STATS TESTS LinRegTTest).

Formula Review

Least Squares Line or Line of Best Fit: [latex]\displaystyle\hat{{y}}={a}+{b}{x}[/latex]

where  a = y -intercept,  b = slope

Standard deviation of the residuals:

[latex]\displaystyle{s}=\sqrt{{\frac{{{S}{S}{E}}}{{{n}-{2}}}}}[/latex]

SSE = sum of squared errors

n = the number of data points

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• Knowledge Base

Hypothesis Testing | A Step-by-Step Guide with Easy Examples

Published on November 8, 2019 by Rebecca Bevans . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Hypothesis testing is a formal procedure for investigating our ideas about the world using statistics . It is most often used by scientists to test specific predictions, called hypotheses, that arise from theories.

There are 5 main steps in hypothesis testing:

• State your research hypothesis as a null hypothesis and alternate hypothesis (H o ) and (H a  or H 1 ).
• Collect data in a way designed to test the hypothesis.
• Perform an appropriate statistical test .
• Decide whether to reject or fail to reject your null hypothesis.
• Present the findings in your results and discussion section.

Though the specific details might vary, the procedure you will use when testing a hypothesis will always follow some version of these steps.

Table of contents

Step 1: state your null and alternate hypothesis, step 2: collect data, step 3: perform a statistical test, step 4: decide whether to reject or fail to reject your null hypothesis, step 5: present your findings, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about hypothesis testing.

After developing your initial research hypothesis (the prediction that you want to investigate), it is important to restate it as a null (H o ) and alternate (H a ) hypothesis so that you can test it mathematically.

The alternate hypothesis is usually your initial hypothesis that predicts a relationship between variables. The null hypothesis is a prediction of no relationship between the variables you are interested in.

• H 0 : Men are, on average, not taller than women. H a : Men are, on average, taller than women.

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For a statistical test to be valid , it is important to perform sampling and collect data in a way that is designed to test your hypothesis. If your data are not representative, then you cannot make statistical inferences about the population you are interested in.

There are a variety of statistical tests available, but they are all based on the comparison of within-group variance (how spread out the data is within a category) versus between-group variance (how different the categories are from one another).

If the between-group variance is large enough that there is little or no overlap between groups, then your statistical test will reflect that by showing a low p -value . This means it is unlikely that the differences between these groups came about by chance.

Alternatively, if there is high within-group variance and low between-group variance, then your statistical test will reflect that with a high p -value. This means it is likely that any difference you measure between groups is due to chance.

Your choice of statistical test will be based on the type of variables and the level of measurement of your collected data .

• an estimate of the difference in average height between the two groups.
• a p -value showing how likely you are to see this difference if the null hypothesis of no difference is true.

Based on the outcome of your statistical test, you will have to decide whether to reject or fail to reject your null hypothesis.

In most cases you will use the p -value generated by your statistical test to guide your decision. And in most cases, your predetermined level of significance for rejecting the null hypothesis will be 0.05 – that is, when there is a less than 5% chance that you would see these results if the null hypothesis were true.

In some cases, researchers choose a more conservative level of significance, such as 0.01 (1%). This minimizes the risk of incorrectly rejecting the null hypothesis ( Type I error ).

The results of hypothesis testing will be presented in the results and discussion sections of your research paper , dissertation or thesis .

In the results section you should give a brief summary of the data and a summary of the results of your statistical test (for example, the estimated difference between group means and associated p -value). In the discussion , you can discuss whether your initial hypothesis was supported by your results or not.

In the formal language of hypothesis testing, we talk about rejecting or failing to reject the null hypothesis. You will probably be asked to do this in your statistics assignments.

However, when presenting research results in academic papers we rarely talk this way. Instead, we go back to our alternate hypothesis (in this case, the hypothesis that men are on average taller than women) and state whether the result of our test did or did not support the alternate hypothesis.

If your null hypothesis was rejected, this result is interpreted as “supported the alternate hypothesis.”

These are superficial differences; you can see that they mean the same thing.

You might notice that we don’t say that we reject or fail to reject the alternate hypothesis . This is because hypothesis testing is not designed to prove or disprove anything. It is only designed to test whether a pattern we measure could have arisen spuriously, or by chance.

If we reject the null hypothesis based on our research (i.e., we find that it is unlikely that the pattern arose by chance), then we can say our test lends support to our hypothesis . But if the pattern does not pass our decision rule, meaning that it could have arisen by chance, then we say the test is inconsistent with our hypothesis .

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Descriptive statistics
• Measures of central tendency
• Correlation coefficient

Methodology

• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Types of interviews
• Cohort study
• Thematic analysis

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Survivorship bias
• Availability heuristic
• Nonresponse bias
• Regression to the mean

Hypothesis testing is a formal procedure for investigating our ideas about the world using statistics. It is used by scientists to test specific predictions, called hypotheses , by calculating how likely it is that a pattern or relationship between variables could have arisen by chance.

A hypothesis states your predictions about what your research will find. It is a tentative answer to your research question that has not yet been tested. For some research projects, you might have to write several hypotheses that address different aspects of your research question.

A hypothesis is not just a guess — it should be based on existing theories and knowledge. It also has to be testable, which means you can support or refute it through scientific research methods (such as experiments, observations and statistical analysis of data).

Null and alternative hypotheses are used in statistical hypothesis testing . The null hypothesis of a test always predicts no effect or no relationship between variables, while the alternative hypothesis states your research prediction of an effect or relationship.

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• Hypothesis Test for Regression Slope
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What is the hypothesis test for correlation coefficient?

When given a sample of bivariate data (data which include two variables), it is possible to calculate how linearly correlated the data are, using a correlation coefficient.

The product moment correlation coefficient (PMCC) describes the extent to which one variable correlates with another. In other words, the strength of the correlation between two variables. The PMCC for a sample of data is denoted by r , while the PMCC for a population is denoted by ρ.

The PMCC is limited to values between -1 and 1 (included).

If r = 1 , there is a perfect positive linear correlation. All points lie on a straight line with a positive gradient, and the higher one of the variables is, the higher the other.

If r = 0 , there is no linear correlation between the variables.

If r = - 1 , there is a perfect negative linear correlation. All points lie on a straight line with a negative gradient, and the higher one of the variables is, the lower the other.

Correlation is not equivalent to causation, but a PMCC close to 1 or -1 can indicate that there is a higher likelihood that two variables are related.

The PMCC should be able to be calculated using a graphics calculator by finding the regression line of y on x, and hence finding r (this value is automatically calculated by the calculator), or by using the formula r = S x y S x x S y y , which is in the formula booklet. The closer r is to 1 or -1, the stronger the correlation between the variables, and hence the more closely associated the variables are. You need to be able to carry out hypothesis tests on a sample of bivariate data to determine if we can establish a linear relationship for an entire population. By calculating the PMCC, and comparing it to a critical value, it is possible to determine the likelihood of a linear relationship existing.

What is the hypothesis test for negative correlation?

To conduct a hypothesis test, a number of keywords must be understood:

Null hypothesis ( H 0 ) : the hypothesis assumed to be correct until proven otherwise

Alternative hypothesis ( H 1 ) : the conclusion made if H 0 is rejected.

Hypothesis test: a mathematical procedure to examine a value of a population parameter proposed by the null hypothesis compared to the alternative hypothesis.

Test statistic: is calculated from the sample and tested in cumulative probability tables or with the normal distribution as the last part of the significance test.

Critical region: the range of values that lead to the rejection of the null hypothesis.

Significance level: the actual significance level is the probability of rejecting H 0 when it is in fact true.

The null hypothesis is also known as the 'working hypothesis'. It is what we assume to be true for the purpose of the test, or until proven otherwise.

The alternative hypothesis is what is concluded if the null hypothesis is rejected. It also determines whether the test is one-tailed or two-tailed.

A one-tailed test allows for the possibility of an effect in one direction, while two-tailed tests allow for the possibility of an effect in two directions, in other words, both in the positive and the negative directions. Method: A series of steps must be followed to determine the existence of a linear relationship between 2 variables. 1 . Write down the null and alternative hypotheses ( H 0 a n d H 1 ). The null hypothesis is always ρ = 0 , while the alternative hypothesis depends on what is asked in the question. Both hypotheses must be stated in symbols only (not in words).

2 . Using a calculator, work out the value of the PMCC of the sample data, r .

3 . Use the significance level and sample size to figure out the critical value. This can be found in the PMCC table in the formula booklet.

4 . Take the absolute value of the PMCC and r , and compare these to the critical value. If the absolute value is greater than the critical value, the null hypothesis should be rejected. Otherwise, the null hypothesis should be accepted.

5 . Write a full conclusion in the context of the question. The conclusion should be stated in full: both in statistical language and in words reflecting the context of the question. A negative correlation signifies that the alternative hypothesis is rejected: the lack of one variable correlates with a stronger presence of the other variable, whereas, when there is a positive correlation, the presence of one variable correlates with the presence of the other.

How to interpret results based on the null hypothesis

From the observed results (test statistic), a decision must be made, determining whether to reject the null hypothesis or not.

Both the one-tailed and two-tailed tests are shown at the 5% level of significance. However, the 5% is distributed in both the positive and negative side in the two-tailed test, and solely on the positive side in the one-tailed test.

From the null hypothesis, the result could lie anywhere on the graph. If the observed result lies in the shaded area, the test statistic is significant at 5%, in other words, we reject H 0 . Therefore, H 0 could actually be true but it is still rejected. Hence, the significance level, 5%, is the probability that H 0 is rejected even though it is true, in other words, the probability that H 0 is incorrectly rejected. When H 0 is rejected, H 1 (the alternative hypothesis) is used to write the conclusion.

We can define the null and alternative hypotheses for one-tailed and two-tailed tests:

For a one-tailed test:

• H 0 : ρ = 0 : H 1 ρ > 0 o r
• H 0 : ρ = 0 : H 1 ρ < 0

For a two-tailed test:

• H 0 : ρ = 0 : H 1 ρ ≠ 0

Let us look at an example of testing for correlation.

12 students sat two biology tests: one was theoretical and the other was practical. The results are shown in the table.

a) Find the product moment correlation coefficient for this data, to 3 significant figures.

b) A teacher claims that students who do well in the theoretical test tend to do well in the practical test. Test this claim at the 0.05 level of significance, clearly stating your hypotheses.

a) Using a calculator, we find the PMCC (enter the data into two lists and calculate the regression line. the PMCC will appear). r = 0.935 to 3 sign. figures

b) We are testing for a positive correlation, since the claim is that a higher score in the theoretical test is associated with a higher score in the practical test. We will now use the five steps we previously looked at.

1. State the null and alternative hypotheses. H 0 : ρ = 0 and H 1 : ρ > 0

2. Calculate the PMCC. From part a), r = 0.935

3. Figure out the critical value from the sample size and significance level. The sample size, n , is 12. The significance level is 5%. The hypothesis is one-tailed since we are only testing for positive correlation. Using the table from the formula booklet, the critical value is shown to be cv = 0.4973

4. The absolute value of the PMCC is 0.935, which is larger than 0.4973. Since the PMCC is larger than the critical value at the 5% level of significance, we can reach a conclusion.

5. Since the PMCC is larger than the critical value, we choose to reject the null hypothesis. We can conclude that there is significant evidence to support the claim that students who do well in the theoretical biology test also tend to do well in the practical biology test.

Let us look at a second example.

A tetrahedral die (four faces) is rolled 40 times and 6 'ones' are observed. Is there any evidence at the 10% level that the probability of a score of 1 is less than a quarter?

The expected mean is 10 = 40 × 1 4 . The question asks whether the observed result (test statistic 6 is unusually low.

We now follow the same series of steps.

1. State the null and alternative hypotheses. H 0 : ρ = 0 and H 1 : ρ <0.25

2. We cannot calculate the PMCC since we are only given data for the frequency of 'ones'.

3. A one-tailed test is required ( ρ < 0.25) at the 10% significance level. We can convert this to a binomial distribution in which X is the number of 'ones' so X ~ B ( 40 , 0 . 25 ) , we then use the cumulative binomial tables. The observed value is X = 6. To P ( X ≤ 6 ' o n e s ' i n 40 r o l l s ) = 0 . 0962 .

4. Since 0.0962, or 9.62% <10%, the observed result lies in the critical region.

5. We reject and accept the alternative hypothesis. We conclude that there is evidence to show that the probability of rolling a 'one' is less than 1 4

Hypothesis Test for Correlation - Key takeaways

• The Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PMCC), or r , is a measure of how strongly related 2 variables are. It ranges between -1 and 1, indicating the strength of a correlation.
• The closer r is to 1 or -1 the stronger the (positive or negative) correlation between two variables.
• The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that is assumed to be correct until proven otherwise. It states that there is no correlation between the variables.
• The alternative hypothesis is that which is accepted when the null hypothesis is rejected. It can be either one-tailed (looking at one outcome) or two-tailed (looking at both outcomes – positive and negative).
• If the significance level is 5%, this means that there is a 5% chance that the null hypothesis is incorrectly rejected.

Images One-tailed test: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35569621

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Frequently Asked Questions about Hypothesis Test for Correlation

Is the Pearson correlation a hypothesis test?

Yes. The Pearson correlation produces a PMCC value, or r   value, which indicates the strength of the relationship between two variables.

Can we test a hypothesis with correlation?

Yes. Correlation is not equivalent to causation, however we can test hypotheses to determine whether a correlation (or association) exists between two variables.

How do you set up the hypothesis test for correlation?

You need a null (p = 0) and alternative hypothesis. The PMCC, or r value must be calculated, based on the sample data. Based on the significance level and sample size, the critical value can be worked out from a table of values in the formula booklet. Finally the r value and critical value can be compared to determine which hypothesis is accepted.

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6.3 - testing for partial correlation.

When discussing ordinary correlations we looked at tests for the null hypothesis that the ordinary correlation is equal to zero, against the alternative that it is not equal to zero. If that null hypothesis is rejected, then we look at confidence intervals for the ordinary correlation. Similar objectives can be considered for the partial correlation.

First, consider testing the null hypothesis that a partial correlation is equal to zero against the alternative that it is not equal to zero. This is expressed below:

\(H_0\colon \rho_{jk\textbf{.x}}=0\) against \(H_a\colon \rho_{jk\textbf{.x}}\ne 0\)

Here we will use a test statistic that is similar to the one we used for an ordinary correlation. This test statistic is shown below:

\(t = r_{jk\textbf{.x}}\sqrt{\frac{n-2-c}{1-r^2_{jk\textbf{.x}}}}\)      \(\dot{\sim}\)  \(t_{n-2-c}\)

The only difference between this and the previous one is what appears in the numerator of the radical. Before we just took n - 2. Here we take n - 2 - c , where c is the number of variables upon which we are conditioning. In our Adult Intelligence data, we conditioned on two variables so c would be equal to 2 in this case.

Under the null hypothesis, this test statistic will be approximately t -distributed, also with n - 2 - c degrees of freedom.

We would reject \(H_{o}\colon\) if the absolute value of the test statistic exceeded the critical value from the t -table evaluated at \(\alpha\) over 2:

\(|t| > t_{n-2-c, \alpha/2}\)

Example 6-3: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Data Section  

For the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Data, we found a partial correlation of 0.711879, which we enter into the expression for the test statistic as shown below:

\(t = 0.711879 \sqrt{\dfrac{37-2-2}{1-0.711879^2}}=5.82\)

The sample size is 37, along with the 2 variables upon which we are conditioning is also substituted in. Carry out the math and we get a test statistic of 5.82 as shown above.

Here we want to compare this value to a t -distribution with 33 degrees of freedom for an \(\alpha\) = 0.01 level test. Therefore, we are going to look at the critical value for 0.005 in the table (because 33 does not appear to use the closest df that does not exceed 33 which is 30).  In this case it is 2.75, meaning that \(t _ { ( d f , 1 - \alpha / 2 ) } = t _ { ( 33,0.995 ) } \) is 2.75.

Because \(5.82 > 2.75 = t _ { ( 33,0.995 ) }\), we can reject the null hypothesis, \(H_{o}\) at the \(\alpha = 0.01\) level and conclude that there is a significant partial correlation between these two variables. In particular, we would include that this partial correlation is positive indicating that even after taking into account Arithmetic and Picture Completion, there is a positive association between Information and Similarities.

Confidence Interval for the partial correlation, \(\rho_{jk\textbf{.x}}\) Section  

The procedure here is very similar to the procedure we used for ordinary correlation.

Compute Fisher's transformation of the partial correlation using the same formula as before.

\(z_{jk} = \dfrac{1}{2}\log \left( \dfrac{1+r_{jk\textbf{.X}}}{1-r_{jk\textbf{.X}}}\right) \)

In this case, for a large n , this Fisher transform variable will be possibly normally distributed. The mean is equal to the Fisher transform for the population value for this partial correlation, and the variance is equal to 1 over n-3-c .

\(z_{jk}\)  \(\dot{\sim}\)  \(N \left( \dfrac{1}{2}\log \dfrac{1+\rho_{jk\textbf{.X}}}{1-\rho_{jk\textbf{.X}}}, \dfrac{1}{n-3-c}\right)\)

Compute a \((1 - \alpha) × 100\%\) confidence interval for the Fisher transform correlation. This expression is shown below:

\( \dfrac{1}{2}\log \dfrac{1+\rho_{jk\textbf{.X}}}{1-\rho_{jk\textbf{.X}}}\)

This yields the bounds \(Z_{l}\) and  \(Z_{u}\)  as before.

\(\left(\underset{Z_l}{\underbrace{Z_{jk}-\dfrac{Z_{\alpha/2}}{\sqrt{n-3-c}}}}, \underset{Z_U}{\underbrace{Z_{jk}+\dfrac{Z_{\alpha/2}}{\sqrt{n-3-c}}}}\right)\)

Back transform to obtain the desired confidence interval for the partial correlation - \(\rho_{jk\textbf{.X}}\)

\(\left(\dfrac{e^{2Z_l}-1}{e^{2Z_l}+1}, \dfrac{e^{2Z_U}-1}{e^{2Z_U}+1}\right)\)

Example 6-3: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Data (Steps Shown) Section  

The confidence interval is calculated by substituting the results from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Data into the appropriate steps below:

Step 1 : Compute the Fisher transform:

\begin{align} Z_{12} &= \dfrac{1}{2}\log \frac{1+r_{12.34}}{1-r_{12.34}}\\[5pt] &= \dfrac{1}{2} \log \frac{1+0.711879}{1-0.711879}\\[5pt] &= 0.89098 \end{align}

Step 2 : Compute the 95% confidence interval for \( \frac{1}{2}\log \frac{1+\rho_{12.34}}{1-\rho_{12.34}}\) :

\begin{align} Z_l &= Z_{12}-Z_{0.025}/\sqrt{n-3-c}\\[5pt] & = 0.89098 - \dfrac{1.96}{\sqrt{37-3-2}}\\[5pt] &= 0.5445 \end{align}

\begin{align} Z_U &= Z_{12}+Z_{0.025}/\sqrt{n-3-c}\\[5pt] &= 0.89098 + \dfrac{1.96}{\sqrt{37-3-2}} \\[5pt] &= 1.2375 \end{align}

Step 3 : Back-transform to obtain the 95% confidence interval for \(\rho_{12.34}\) :

\(\left(\dfrac{\exp\{2Z_l\}-1}{\exp\{2Z_l\}+1}, \dfrac{\exp\{2Z_U\}-1}{\exp\{2Z_U\}+1}\right)\)

\(\left(\dfrac{\exp\{2\times 0.5445\}-1}{\exp\{2\times 0.5445\}+1}, \dfrac{\exp\{2\times 1.2375\}-1}{\exp\{2\times 1.2375\}+1}\right)\)

\((0.4964, 0.8447)\)

Based on this result, we can conclude that we are 95% confident that the interval (0.4964, 0.8447) contains the partial correlation between Information and Similarities scores given scores on Arithmetic and Picture Completion.