3.

1: Scatterplots &
Correlation
 Section 3.1
Scatterplots and Correlation
After this section, you should be able to…

✓ IDENTIFY explanatory and response variables

✓ CONSTRUCT scatterplots to display relationships
✓ INTERPRET scatterplots
✓ MEASURE linear association using correlation
✓ INTERPRET correlation
 Explanatory & Response
Variables
Explanatory Variables Response Variables
(Independent Variables ) (Dependent Variables)
Car weight Accident death rate

Number of cigarettes Life expectancy

smoked

Number of hours studied SAT scores

 Scatterplots
• A scatterplot shows the relationship between two
quantitative variables measured on the same individuals.
• The values of one variable appear on the horizontal axis,
and the values of the other variable appear on the
vertical axis.
• Each individual in the data appears as a point on the
graph.
 Scatterplots
1. Decide which variable should go on each axis.
• Remember, the eXplanatory variable goes on the X-
axis!
2. Label and scale your axes.
3. Plot individual data values.
 Scatterplots
Make a scatterplot of the relationship between body weight and
pack weight. Body weight is our eXplanatory variable.
Body weight (lb) 120 187 109 103 131 165 158 116
Backpack weight 26 30 26 24 29 35 31 28
(lb)
 Constructing a Scatterplot:
TI-Nspire
1. Enter x values into list
1 and enter y values
into list 2.
2. Label each column.
Label column x :
weight and column y:
bpack.
3. Press HOME/On, click
Add Data & Statistics
 Constructing a Scatterplot:
TI-Nspire
4. Move the cursor to
the bottom of the
screen and “click to
add variable”. Select
weight.
5. Move the cursor to
the left of the screen
and “click to add
variable”. Select
bpack.
Constructing a Scatterplot
 Describing Scatterplots
As in any graph of data, look for the overall pattern and for
striking departures from that pattern.
• You can describe the overall pattern of a scatterplot by
the direction, form, and strength of the relationship.
• An important kind of departure is an outlier, an
individual value that falls outside the overall pattern of
the relationship.
• Also, clustering.
 Words That Describe…
• Direction (slope)
– Positive or Negative
• Form
– Linear, quadratic, cubic, exponential, curved, non-
linear, etc.
• Strength
– Strong, weak, somewhat strong, very weak,
moderately strong, etc.
 More on Strength…
• Strength refers to how tightly grouped the
points are in a particular pattern.
• Later on we use describe strength as
“correlation”
Describe this Scatterplot
Describe this Scatterplot
Describe this Scatterplot
 Interpreting a Scatterplot
• Interpret….tell what the data suggests in real
world terms.
• Example: The data suggests that the more
hours a student studied for the AP Stats test
the higher grade the student earned. There is a
positive relationship between hours studied
and grade earned.
 Describe and interpret the scatterplot below. The y-axis
refers to backpack weight in pounds and the x-axis refers to
body weight in pounds.
 Describe and interpret the scatterplot below. The y-axis
refers to backpack weight in pounds and the x-axis refers to
body weight in pounds.

Sample Answer:
There is a moderately strong,
positive, linear relationship
between body weight and pack
weight. There is one possible
outlier, the hiker with the body
weight of 187 pounds seems to
be carrying relatively less weight
than are the other group
members. It appears that lighter
students are carrying lighter
backpacks
Describe and interpret the scatterplot below. The y-axis refer
to a school’s mean SAT math score. The x-axis refers to the
percentage of students at a school taking the SAT.
Describe and interpret the scatterplot below. The y-axis refer
to a school’s mean SAT math score. The x-axis refers to the
percentage of students at a school taking the SAT.

Sample Answer:
There is a moderately strong,
negative, curved relationship
between the percent of
students in a state who take
the SAT and the mean SAT
math score.
Further, there are two distinct
clusters of states and at least
one possible outliers that falls
outside the overall pattern.
 What is Correlation?
• A mathematical value that describes the
strength of a linear relationship between
two quantitative variables.
• Correlation values are between -1 and 1.
• Correlation is abbreviated: r
• The strength of the linear relationship
increases as r moves away from 0 towards -1
or 1.
 What does “r” tell us?!
• Correlation describes what percent of
variation in y is ‘explained’ by x.
• Notice that the formula is the sum of the z-
scores of x multiplied by the z-scores of y.
Scatterplots and Correlation
 What does “r” mean?
R Value Strength
-1 Perfectly linear; negative
-0.75 Strong negative relationship
-0.50 Moderately strong negative relationship
-0.25 Weak negative relationship
0 nonexistent
0.25 Weak positive relationship
0.50 Moderately strong positive relationship
0.75 Strong positive relationship
1 Perfectly linear; positive
Describe and interpret the scatterplot below. Be
sure to estimate the correlation.
Sample Answer:
As the number of boats registered in Florida
increases so does the number of manatees killed
by boats. This relationship is evidenced in the
scatterplot by a strong, positive linear
relationship. The estimated correlation is
approximately r =0.85.

**Answers between 0.75-0.95 would be

acceptable.
Describe and interpret the scatterplot below. Be
sure to estimate the correlation.
Sample Answer:
As the number of predicted storms increases,
so does the number of observed storms, but
the relationship is weak. The relationship
evidenced in the scatterplot is a fairly weak
positive linear relationship. The estimated
correlation is approximately r = 0.25.

**Answers between 0.15 and 0.45 would be

acceptable.
Estimate the Correlation Coefficient
Estimate the Correlation Coefficient
 How strong is the correlation? Is it
positive or negative?

• 0.235
• -0.456
• 0.975
• -0.784
 Calculate Correlation: TI-Nspire
1. Enter x values in list 1 and y values in list 2.
2. Press MENU, then 4: Statistics
3. Option 1: Stat Calculations
4. Option 3: Linear Regression mx + b
5. X: a[] , Y: b[] , ENTER
6. Correlation = r

Correlation should be 0.79

 Find the Correlation
Height in 5.5 6.0 5.25 6.25 5.75 6.0 5.75 5.5 5.75
Feet
Weight in 150 180 138 191 172 181 168 148 172
pounds

R = 0.97
 Facts about Correlation
1. Correlation requires that both variables be quantitative.
2. Correlation does not describe curved relationships between
variables, no matter how strong the relationship is.
3. Correlation is not resistant. r is strongly affected by a few
outlying observations.
4. Correlation makes no distinction between explanatory and
response variables.
5. r does not change when we change the units of measurement
of x, y, or both.
6. r does not change when we add or subtract a constant to
either x, y or both.
7. The correlation r itself has no unit of measurement.
R: Ignores distinctions
between X & Y
R: Highly Effected By
Outliers
 Why?!
• Since r is calculated using standardized values
(z-scores), the correlation value will not
change if the units of measure are changed
(feet to inches, etc.)
• Adding a constant to either x or y or both will
not change the correlation because neither
the standard deviation nor distance from the
mean will be impacted.
 Correlation Formula:
Suppose that we have data on variables x and y for n
individuals.
The values for the first individual are x1 and y1, the values
for the second individual are x2 and y2, and so on.
The means and standard deviations of the two variables are
x-bar and sx for the x-values and y-bar and sy for the y-
values.
The correlation r between x and y is:
1  x1 − x  y1 − y   x 2 − x  y 2 − y   x n − x  y n − y  
r=    +    + ...+    
n −1  sx  sy   sx  sy   sx  sy  

1  x i − x  y i − y 
r=   
n −1  sx  sy 
