To determine which correlation coefficient is stronger, we can look at the absolute values of the coefficients, as the strength of correlation is indicated by how close the value is to 1 or -1, regardless of the sign.
- The absolute value of \( r = -0.9879021 \) is \( 0.9879021 \).
- The absolute value of \( r = 0.9870013 \) is \( 0.9870013 \).
Comparing these absolute values, \( 0.9879021 \) is greater than \( 0.9870013 \).
Therefore, \( r = -0.9879021 \) indicates a stronger correlation compared to \( r = 0.9870013 \). The negative sign indicates that the correlation is negative, but the strength of the correlation is stronger in the first case.