Question

which statement regarding correlation is not true?
a negative correlation coefficient indicates that there is a weak relationship between two variables.
a correlation coefficient measures the strength of the linear relationship between two variables.
the closer the absolute value of the correlation coefficient is to one, the closer the data conform to a line.
a relation for which most of the data fall close to a line is considered strong.

Explanation:

• A negative correlation coefficient only indicates the direction of the linear relationship (one variable increases as the other decreases), not the strength. A coefficient like -0.9 represents a strong negative linear relationship, not a weak one.
• The other statements are true: correlation coefficients measure linear relationship strength, an absolute value near 1 means data is close to a line, and data clustered near a line signals a strong linear relationship.

Answer:

A. A negative correlation coefficient indicates that there is a weak relationship between two variables.