Home > P Words > positive correlation

positive correlation

Definition of Positive Correlation

(noun) In statistical analysis, a situation in which an increase in one variable causes an increase in another variable and vice versa.

Example of Positive Correlation

  • When temperatures increase, ice cream sales increase.

Positive Correlation Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: pos·i·tive cor·re·la·tion

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /pAHz-uh-tiv kor-uh-lAY-shuhn/
  • British English – /pOz-i-tiv kor-i-lAY-shuhn/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈpɑzətɪv ˌkɔrəˈleɪʃən/
  • British English – /ˈpɒzətɪv ˌkɒrɪˈleɪʃən/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: positive correlations
  • Positive correlation is the opposite of negative correlation.
  • Also called direct correlation.

Related Video

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.

Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).

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 Positive Correlation

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Seaman, C. E. 2015. “positive correlation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary, edited by Kenton Bell. Retrieved December 14, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/positive-correlation/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

Seaman, C. E. (2015). positive correlation. In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/positive-correlation/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Seaman, C. E. 2015. “positive correlation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary, edited by Kenton Bell. Accessed December 14, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/positive-correlation/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

Seaman, C. E. “positive correlation.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2015. Web. 14 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/positive-correlation/>.