To determine the strength of the correlation between two variables, we use the correlation coefficient, denoted as r. The value of r ranges from -1 to 1.
– A value of 1 indicates a perfect positive linear relationship: as one variable increases, the other variable also increases in perfect proportion.
– A value of -1 indicates a perfect negative linear relationship: as one variable increases, the other variable decreases in perfect proportion.
– A value of 0 indicates no linear correlation between the variables.
Therefore, the strongest correlation occurs at the extremes. Thus, both 1 and -1 represent the strongest correlations, but if we are considering only positive correlation, then 1 is the strongest value.