The limitation of covariance as a descriptive measure of association is that it
A) only captures positive relationships
B) does not capture the units of the variables
C) is very sensitive to the units of the variables
D) is invalid if one of the variables is categorical
E) none of these options

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Covariance measures the direction and strength of the linear relationship between two variables, but it is affected by the scale of measurement of the variables. Therefore, the covariance may not be comparable between variables measured on different scales. For example, if one variable is measured in years and another is measured in dollars, the scale difference between the two variables can result in a large or small covariance value that is difficult to interpret.

The Limitation of Covariance as a Descriptive Measure of Association