Question: The newspaper Stupid Times published a study on the connection between the number of books people have read (x) and the serious colds they have

The newspaper Stupid Times published a study on the connection between the number of books people have read (x) and the serious colds they have had. The study—which relied on a mere five observations—produced the following data:Observation (x-x)(y-y) 1 203.4 2 847.4 3 9329.4 4 4703.4 5 -225.6

The standard deviation of books read is 432.9; the standard deviation of serious colds is 7.5.

(a) Calculate Pearson’s correlation coefficient. What conclusion is Stupid Times likely to have drawn?

(b) Explain what a spurious correlation is theoretically.

(c) Based on your understanding of a spurious correlation, how do you interpret the result in (a)?

Observation (x-x)(y-y) 1 203.4 2 847.4 3 9329.4 4 4703.4 5 -225.6

Step by Step Solution

3.32 Rating (158 Votes )

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock

a Using the table we can calculate the following Pearsons correlati... View full answer

blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Students Have Also Explored These Related Applied Statistics And Multivariate Questions!