Activity Overview
In this activity, students will discuss and discover when and how to use both the Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient.
Objectives
- Students will explore both Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient (SRCC), how to decide which will fit the given scenario better, and the appropriateness and limitations of each.
- Students will be asked to use their handhelds to discuss and analyze given sets of data, and describe their results in the context of the problems.
- Students will try to make a connection with how to understand these topics in IB Mathematics courses and on their final assessments.
Vocabulary
- Correlation
- Monotonic
- Causality
About the Lesson
Students will discuss and discover when and how to use both the Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. They will learn about the benefits and limitations of these statistics and how they can be applied to real world situations.
*Note: This activity includes optional IB support, including the IB Questions download for students who are preparing for the IB Exam.