Correlation
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In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics it usually refers to the degree to which a pair of variables are linearly related. Familiar examples of dependent phenomena include the correlation between the height of parents and their offspring, and the correlation between the price of a good and the quantity the consumers are willing to purchase, as it is depicted in the so-called demand curve.
Correlations are useful because they can indicate a predictive relationship that can be exploited in practice. For example, an electrical utility may produce less power on a mild day based on the correlation between electricity demand and weather. In this example, there is a causal relationship, because extreme weather causes people to use more electricity for heating or cooling. However, in general, the presence of a correlation is not sufficient to infer the presence of a causal relationship (i.e., correlation does not imply causation).
See also
- Autocorrelation
- Canonical correlation
- Coefficient of determination
- Cointegration
- Concordance correlation coefficient
- Cophenetic correlation
- Correlation function
- Correlation gap
- Covariance
- Covariance and correlation
- Cross-correlation
- Ecological correlation
- Fraction of variance unexplained
- Genetic correlation
- Goodman and Kruskal's lambda
- Iconography of correlations
- Illusory correlation
- Interclass correlation
- Intraclass correlation
- Lift (data mining)
- Mean dependence
- Modifiable areal unit problem
- Multiple correlation
- Point-biserial correlation coefficient
- Quadrant count ratio
- Spurious correlation
- Statistical correlation ratio
- Subindependence
