Given Hapunda

155 a) There is no distinction between explanatory (x) and response (y) variable. b) Variables are continuous scale: interval or ratio. c) Variables are normally distributed. d) A minimum of 100 participants would produce acceptable correlation (Brace, Kemp & Snelgar, 2012). A small sample size may either fail to produce a correlation or may produce a correlation that does not exist due to skewed data. In essence, a correction typically evaluates three aspects of the relations: Direction, Form and Degree. The direction of the relationship is measured by the sign of the correlation (+ or − ). A positive correlation means that the two variables tend to change in the same direction; as one increases, the other also tends to increase. A negative correlation means that the two variables tend to change in opposite directions; as one increases, the other tends to decrease. The most common form of relationship is a straight line or linear relationship which is measured by the Pearson correlation. Linear relationships implying straight line associations are visualised with scatter plots. A strong linear relationship is seen when the points of data (observations) lie close to a straight line, and weak if they are widely scattered away from the straight line. The degree of relationship (the strength or consistency of the relationship) is measured by the numerical value of the correlation. A value of 1.00 indicates a perfect relationship and a value of zero indicates no relationship. Examples of different values for linear correlations : a) a perfect negative correlation = 1.00 b) no linear trend = 0.00 c) a strong positive relationship, approximately +0.90 d) a relatively weak negative correlation − 0.40. Positive r indicates positive linear association between x and y or variables, and negative r indicates negative linear relationship. The strength increases as r moves away from zero towards − 1 or +1. The extreme values +1 and − 1 indicate perfect linear relationship (points lie exactly along a straight line). The Graded interpretation of r are widely understood as values of 0.1 − 0.3 = weak; 0.4 − 0.7 = moderate and 0.8 − 1.0 = strong correlation.