Height vs. Hair Correlation
Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
Imagine you are a teacher for a class on statistics and you want to teach your students about correlation using the class data on hair length and height in inches.
Answer these questions for yourself before you run any data:
- Do you think these two characteristics—height and hair length—are connected in any way?
- How will you know if they are related to each other?
- Do you expect them to be correlated? Why or why not? If yes, would you expect this correlation to be positive or negative? Strong or weak?
- If you think there is a correlation, do you think it is based on causation? Why or why not? If yes, is this causation direct or indirect?
Use the data in the chart below to figure the Pearson Correlation Coefficient for this data set.
Height in Inches
Length of Hair
Height vs. Hair Correlation
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Are height and hair length connected?,
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How can you determine if they are related?,
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Do you expect a correlation? If so what type?,
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Is any observed correlation due to causation?,
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What is the Pearson Correlation Coefficient for the dataset?
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Height vs. Hair Correlation
Comprehensive General Answer:
Before running any calculations, we must assess whether height and hair length are likely related. Intuitively, these two characteristics don’t have a direct biological connection—height is genetically and nutritionally influenced, while hair length is primarily a matter of personal choice or cultural norms. However, there could still be a statistical correlation due to demographic or behavioral factors. For instance, in many populations, women may have longer hair on average and may also be shorter in height than men. This could produce a negative correlation, where as height increases, hair length decreases.
To determine whether a correlation exists, we would calculate the Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r), which measures the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables. A coefficient near +1 indicates a strong positive correlation, near -1 indicates a strong negative correlation, and around 0 suggests no correlation.
Even if we find a correlation, it does not imply causation. There is no biological mechanism where hair length affects height or vice versa. Any correlation would likely be indirect, resulting from other variables such as gender or age group distribution within the sample.
To conclude, while a weak negative correlation is possible due to sociocultural patterns, it’s not based on causation. Computing the Pearson r using actual values would confirm the presence and strength of any relationship.
Height vs. Hair Correlation