Deck 8: Correlation

Question 1

The correlation between employee IQ and productivity in a factory is .12 with a significance of p < .01. What can we conclude?

A) That there is a substantial relationship between IQ and productivity.
B) That there is a small relationship between IQ an productivity.
C) That IQ causes productivity.
D) All of the above

Answer 1

That there is a small relationship between IQ an productivity.

Question 2

A researcher conducts some research in which they identify a significant positive correlation (r = .42) between job satisfaction and manager competency (both measured on a rating scale). Which of the following is an inappropriate conclusion?

A) That improved manager competency makes employees more satisfied with their job.
B) More satisfied employees have incompetent managers.
C) That the consequences of having more competent managers are unclear.
D) That it is possible to predict someone's job satisfaction based on their opinion towards the competency of their manager

Answer 2

More satisfied employees have incompetent managers.

Question 3

When interpreting the employee IQ-productivity correlation coefficient, it is important to look at?

A) The significance of the correlation coefficient.
B) The magnitude of the correlation coefficient.
C) The sign (+/-) of the correlation coefficient
D) All of the above

Answer 3

All of the above

Question 4

A colleague has asked you to describe what a positive correlation represents. Which of the following is most accurate?

A) Two variables are unrelated.
B) As one score increases so does the other.
C) As one score increases so the other decreases.
D) Both a and b

Question 5

Correlational studies allow the researcher to?

A) Test for differences between two variables
B) Predict the effect of one variable upon another
C) Make causal inferences about the relationship between two variables
D) Identify the relationship between two variables

Question 6

How much variance is explained when a correlation of .9 is found in your analysis of employee IQ and productivity?

A) 81%
B) 18%
C) 9%
D) None of the above

Question 7

The relationship between two variables controlling for the effect that a third variable has on one of those variables can be expressed using a…?

A) Semi-partial correlation.
B) Bivariate correlation.
C) Point-biserial correlation.
D) Partial correlation.

Question 8

If two interval/ratio variables, such as customer satisfaction and affective commitment, were perfectly positively correlated they would give a correlation coefficient of?

A) -0.33
B) +1
C) + 0.88
D) -1

Question 9

The covariance is?

A) An unstandardized version of the correlation coefficient.
B) A measure of the strength of relationship between two variables.
C) Dependent on the units of measurement of the variables.
D) All of the above.

Question 10

20 employees took part in study in which they completed two questionnaires: one that measured motivation and one that measured their work-life balance. The two sets of scores were then analysed to determine if the two measures were related. Which research design was used in the study?

A) An observational study
B) A case study
C) A correlational study
D) An experiment

Question 11

A scatterplot shows?

A) The frequency with which values appear in the data.
B) The average value of groups of data.
C) Scores on one variable plotted against scores on a second variable.
D) The proportion of data falling into different categories.

Question 12

You generate a Pearson's correlation coefficient to assess whether shareholder value is correlated with the number of employees hired at law firms. Which of the following statement is not accurate when employing this test?

A) It can be used to measure 'effect size'.
B) It varies between -1 and +1.
C) It cannot be used with binary variables (those taking on a value of 0 or 1).
D) It can be used on ranked data.

Question 13

For which of these variables would you be interested in finding the biserial correlation coefficient rather than the point-biserial correlation coefficient?

A) Public limited companies or non-publicly listed companies.
B) Employees passing or failing their CIMA (accountancy qualification) exam.
C) Companies offering a pension scheme to their staff or not.
D) The provision of a company car for managerial positions or not.

Question 14

One of the factors that affects the reliability of findings from studies using correlations is?

A) The number of variables being investigated
B) The type of relationship that is found
C) The level of significance set at the start of the study
D) The number of people who take part

Question 15

What is meant by the term 'spurious relationship between two variables'?

A) A relationship that is so illogical it cannot possibly be true.
B) An apparent relationship that is so curious it demands further attention.
C) A relationship that appears to be true because each variable is related to a third (untested) variable.
D) A relationship that produces a perfect negative correlation on a scatter diagram.

Question 16

What is the name of the test that is used to assess the relationship between two ordinal variables?

A) Spearman's rho
B) Phi
C) Cramér's V
D) Chi-square