In the context of scatterplots, what is the primary goal of correlation?

• A. To quantify the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two quantitative variables
• B. To find the equation of the best-fitting regression line for predicting one variable from the other
• C. To determine whether the means of two populations are significantly different
• D. To prove that changes in one variable cause changes in the other variable

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that correlation is a statistical measure used to describe the relationship between two quantitative variables.
2. Recognize that the primary goal of correlation is to quantify two key aspects: the strength of the relationship and the direction (positive or negative) of the linear association between the variables.
3. Note that correlation does not involve finding the equation of a regression line; that is a separate concept related to regression analysis.
4. Remember that correlation does not test for differences between population means; that is the purpose of hypothesis tests like the t-test.
5. Also, correlation does not imply causation; it only measures how variables move together, not whether one causes changes in the other.