Question

On a graph, points are grouped closely together in a horizontal line.
Identify the correlation in the scatterplot.

Answer 1

When points are grouped closely together in a horizontal line on a scatterplot, it typically indicates a **strong negative correlation** or **strong positive correlation**, depending on the direction of the line.

- If the line is slanting downward from left to right, it indicates a **strong negative correlation**, meaning that as one variable increases, the other variable decreases.
- If the line is slanting upward from left to right, it indicates a **strong positive correlation**, meaning that as one variable increases, the other variable also increases.

If the points are exactly horizontal (i.e., they have the same y-value), this suggests that there is no correlation, as changes in the x-variable do not affect the y-variable at all.

In summary:
- Horizontal line with a downward slope: Strong negative correlation.
- Horizontal line with an upward slope: Strong positive correlation.
- Perfectly horizontal line: No correlation.