Click on New Plots. Four
scatter plots will appear along the top (Plots A, B, C, and D), and four
correlation coefficients will appear at the left below the first plot. There is
exactly one correct correlation for each plot. To the right of each correlation
coefficient, there is a set of four choices. Choose the one you think is the
scatter plot with that correlation coefficient. (If two correlation
coefficients are equal, either one can go with the plot.) Press the
Answers button. The program will indicate which correlation coefficients
you correctly matched, and show the number correct in the lower left. The lower
right accumulates your score if you play more than once Just above the lower
right, the number of plots you have gotten correct in a row is recorded. You
need to guess all four correctly for your streak to continue. To play more,
click on New Plots.
Summary/Background
Karl Pearson FRS (27 March 1857 – 27 April 1936) established the discipline of mathematical statistics. A sesquicentenary conference was held in London on 23 March 2007, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth.
In 1911 he founded the world's first university statistics department at University College London. He was a proponent of eugenics, and a protege and biographer of Sir Francis Galton. He was also a socialist. Pearson was instrumental in the development of regression and correlation theory. One of his classic data sets (originally collected by Galton) involves the regression of sons' height upon that of their fathers'. Pearson built a 3-dimensional model of this data set (which remains in the care of the Statistical Science Department) to illustrate the ideas. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is named after him, and it was the first important "effect size" to be introduced into statistics.
Software/Applets used on this page
An applet from CUWUSTAT (regretfully, their web site appears to no longer be available).
This question appears in the following syllabi:
| Syllabus | Module | Section | Topic | Exam Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AQA A-Level (UK - Pre-2017) | S1 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| AQA AS Maths 2017 | Statistics | Data Presentation and Interpretation | Correlation | - |
| AQA AS/A2 Maths 2017 | Statistics | Data Presentation and Interpretation | Correlation | - |
| CCEA A-Level (NI) | S2 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| Edexcel A-Level (UK - Pre-2017) | S1 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| Edexcel AS Maths 2017 | Statistics | Correlating Bivariate Data | Correlation | - |
| Edexcel AS/A2 Maths 2017 | Statistics | Correlating Bivariate Data | Correlation | - |
| I.B. Higher Level | 7 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| I.B. (MSSL) | 6 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| OCR A-Level (UK - Pre-2017) | S1 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| OCR AS Maths 2017 | Statistics | Scatter Diagrams and Correlation | Correlation | - |
| OCR MEI AS Maths 2017 | Statistics | Scatter Diagrams and Correlation | Correlation | - |
| OCR-MEI A-Level (UK - Pre-2017) | S2 | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| Pre-U A-Level (UK) | Prob | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| Scottish (Highers + Advanced) | HS | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| Scottish Highers | S | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |
| Universal (all site questions) | C | Correlation and Regression | Correlation | - |