Correlation and Hypothesis Testing

---

Conducting a hypothesis test of correlation is similar to the methods of hypothesis testing with which we have grown familiar, with a few noticable differences:

• The relevant distribution is the t-distribution, with r=0 at the center (mean).

• The rejection region is determined through degrees of freedom and significance level.  The difference is the change in the method for determining the Degrees of Freedom:

Degrees of Freedom = n  - 2

The distribution is entered by converting the r  value with the following equation:

Case Example: The SAT and Family Income

---

  

6:5