Definition of Negative Correlation
(noun) In statistical analysis, a situation in which an increase in one variable causes a decrease in another variable, and vice versa.
Examples of Negative Correlation
- When temperatures increase and it gets hotter, the number of coat sales decreases.
- As the amount of time an individual walks daily increases, their weight decreases.
Negative Correlation Pronunciation
Syllabification: neg·a·tive cor·re·la·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /nEgUH-tiv kor-uh-lAY-shuhn/
- British English – /nEgUH-tiv kor-i-lAY-shuhn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈnɛgətɪv ˌkɔrəˈleɪʃən/
- British English – /ˈnɛgətɪv ˌkɒrɪˈleɪʃən/
Usage Notes
- Plural: negative correlations
- Negative correlation is the opposite of positive correlation.
- Also called indirect correlation.
Related Video
Additional Information
- Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “negative” and “correlation” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- cohort
- correlation
- descriptive statistics
- independent variable
- inferential statistics
- negative correlation
- positive correlation
- spurious correlation
- statistical analysis
Contributor: C. E. Seaman
Works Consulted
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Bryman, Alan. 2012. Social Research Methods. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
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Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Salkind, Neil J., ed. 2007. Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Weinstein, Jay A. 2010. Applying Social Statistics: An Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning in Sociology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).
Cite the Definition of Negative Correlation
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Seaman, C. E. 2015. “negative correlation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary, edited by Kenton Bell. Retrieved March 25, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/negative-correlation/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
Seaman, C. E. (2015). negative correlation. In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/negative-correlation/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Seaman, C. E. 2015. “negative correlation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary, edited by Kenton Bell. Accessed March 25, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/negative-correlation/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
Seaman, C. E. “negative correlation.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/negative-correlation/>.