The formulas for some measures of association can result in coefficients with either positive or negative signs. Under which of the following circumstances can those signs be meaningfully interpreted?
A)Whenever the data are expressed as frequencies
B)When the data are measured at the nominal level
C)When the data are measured at the ordinal level
D)Whenever the data have a modal category
E)Whenever the data are expressed as percentages

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When the data are measured at the ordinal level, the order of the categories provides meaning to the direction of the association, and therefore the sign of the coefficient can be interpreted. For example, if a correlation coefficient between two ordinal variables is negative, it means there is a negative association between the variables, indicating that higher values on one variable are associated with lower values on the other variable. However, at the nominal level, there is no inherent order to the categories, so the direction of the association cannot be meaningfully interpreted.

The Formulas for Some Measures of Association Can Result in Coefficients