If the correlation coefficient r is close to -1, what does that indicate about the relationship between variables?

• A. No linear relationship
• B. Weak positive linear relationship
• C. Strong positive linear relationship
• D. Strong negative linear relationship

Answer: (D)

Correlation between two variables is about both direction and strength of their linear relationship. When r is close to -1, the two variables move in opposite directions and do so in a tightly consistent, nearly straight-line pattern. That means as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease strongly and predictably. The magnitude near 1 signals a strong relationship, while the negative sign signals the inverse direction. This is different from a no linear relationship (r near 0) or a strong positive relationship (r near +1). So, a correlation near -1 indicates a strong negative linear relationship.