A civil engineer wants to know if there is a relationship between the number of stoplights in a city and the number of wrecks during a six week period. He randomly samples 100 cities across the U.S. and gathers data on: 1) the number of stoplights in the city (ratio measurement scale) and 2) number of wrecks in that city during the past six weeks (ratio measurement scale). Which statistical procedure is most appropriate to use to test the hypothesis?
A) Pearson correlation coefficient
B) Phi coefficient
C) Spearman or Kendall tau's correlation coefficient

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Pearson correlation coefficient is the most appropriate statistical procedure for testing the hypothesis because both variables (number of stoplights and number of wrecks) are on a ratio measurement scale and the interest is in determining the linear relationship between these two continuous variables.

A Civil Engineer Wants to Know If There Is a Relationship