Introduction to Associations and Correlations

In this chapter, you'll start to understand a little about correlations and associations, including what they are and how you use them. You'll also learn the basics of how to build a holistic strategy to discover the story of your data using univariate and multivariate statistics and find out why eating ice cream does not make you more likely to drown when you go swimming.

You'll learn about why statistics can never prove that there is a relationship between a pair of variables, via the null hypothesis, p-values, and a sensibly chosen cut-off value, and learn about how to measure the strength of relationships.

What Are Associations and Correlations?

When you can phrase your hypothesis (question or hunch) in the following form, then you are talking about the relationship family of statistical analyses:

• Is smoking related to lung cancer?
• Is there an association between education level and political orientation...