SENIC (Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control) has a public data set from 1975 to 1976 that contains information on 113 hospitals, including rankings according to cleanliness and the probability of acquiring an infection in the hospital.A Spearman correlation coefficient of -0.58 between cleanliness ranking (high rank = very clean) and risk of infection ranking (high rank = high risk) is found from the SENIC data set.What can be concluded from these findings?
A) There is a fairly strong negative correlation between risk of infection and cleanliness rank, because patients were more likely to get an infection at hospitals with a low cleanliness ranking.
B) There is a fairly strong positive correlation between risk of infection and cleanliness rank, because as the rank for cleanliness increased, so did a patient's risk of infection.
C) There is no correlation between cleanliness of hospitals and risk of patient infection.
D) Unsanitary conditions at hospitals cause more infections in patients.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The negative correlation coefficient of -0.58 indicates that as cleanliness rank increases (meaning hospitals are cleaner), the risk of infection rank decreases (meaning patients are less likely to contract infections). Therefore, patients were more likely to get an infection at hospitals with a low cleanliness ranking.

SENIC (Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control) Has