Hair Length and Shoe Size Correlation Assignment. Due Mon. 9/27/10

Blog Post Assignment #2 - Reading Scatter Plots and Understanding Correlations.

On your own academic blog please discuss each of the graphs for YOUR class. Be sure to address the questions below each graph. Please don't copy the questions or number your answers, rather, you should write a paragraph or two in complete sentences so your reader knows what you are talking about.

In your post you should either copy the graph images from my blog or link to them in your post using the link button (it looks like a little chain link just to the right of the Text color button at the top of your "new post" window.) Be sure to e-mail me with your blog URL to let me know your blog post is up. Put your full name and "AP Psych-Per ?" in the subject line and in the body of your e-mail. Review the "how to e-mail a teacher" post on my blog before you send your e-mail.

(click on the graphs to enlarge)

Above is the data we collected about our shoe sizes vs our heights. Can you see a relationship? Is there a correlation? If so, is it positive or negative? Does shoe size cause height to change? Does height cause shoe size to change? Does correlation imply causality?

 

What can we see from the above scatter plot of hair length vs. height? Is there a correlation? If so, is it positive or negative; strong or weak? What information about the students in our class does this graph give you? Are there a few "outliers" or extreme data points that seem unusual? If you throw them out of the data set what does the correlation look like? What other information would be helpful to interpret the data?