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negative correlation

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

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: neg·a·tive cor·re·la·tion

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

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.

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Additional Information

Related Terms

Contributor: C. E. Seaman


Works Consulted

Babbie, Earl. 2013. The Practice of Social Research. 13th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bryman, Alan. 2012. Social Research Methods. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Burdess, Neil. 2010. Starting Statistics: A Short, Clear Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Cramer, Duncan, and Dennis Howitt. 2004. The SAGE Dictionary of Statistics: A Practical Resource for Students in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Fioramonti, Lorenzo. 2014. How Numbers Rule the World: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in Global Politics. London: Zed Books.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Larson, Ron, and Elizabeth Farber. 2015. Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson.

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 19, 2024 (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 19, 2024. 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. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/negative-correlation/>.