A researcher observes the following pattern in a large sample of overweight people: the higher the person's weight, the less physical activity they engage in. What type of relationship is this?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The relationship between weight and physical activity is a negative correlation, meaning that as one variable (weight) increases, the other variable (physical activity) decreases. This is not a causal relationship because the observation does not indicate which variable influences the other, or if there is a third factor influencing both variables. The observation may be statistically significant if there is strong evidence to support the negative correlation in the population being studied. A null result would indicate that there is no relationship between weight and physical activity.

A Researcher Observes the Following Pattern in a Large Sample