Social warmth is a term referring to the feeling of being connected to others. A study published in PLoS One in 2016 looked at a potential relationship between physical warmth (body temperature) and social warmth among a group of 54 volunteers (Inagki et al.). These volunteers had their oral temperature taken by a registered nurse and then assessed themselves using a scale of 1 to 5 on twelve items related to a feeling of social connection for which the average was recorded. Higher average scores indicated higher levels of social warmth. The theory was that the thermoregulatory system, which helps maintain a relatively warm internal body temperature, may also help people assess feelings of social connection. Below is a scatterplot and least-squares regression line of the data.
-Which of the following is the correlation coefficient for these data?
A) 0.348
B) 0.721
C) -0.032
D) -0.213

Question

Social warmth is a term referring to the feeling of being connected to others. A study published in PLoS One in 2016 looked at a potential relationship between physical warmth (body temperature) and social warmth among a group of 54 volunteers (Inagki et al.). These volunteers had their oral temperature taken by a registered nurse and then assessed themselves using a scale of 1 to 5 on twelve items related to a feeling of social connection for which the average was recorded. Higher average scores indicated higher levels of social warmth. The theory was that the thermoregulatory system, which helps maintain a relatively warm internal body temperature, may also help people assess feelings of social connection. Below is a scatterplot and least-squares regression line of the data. 
-Which of the following is the correlation coefficient for these data?
A) 0.348 
B) 0.721 
C) -0.032 
D) -0.213

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables. It can range from -1 to 1, where -1 indicates a perfect negative relationship, 0 indicates no relationship, and 1 indicates a perfect positive relationship. In this case, the correlation coefficient is 0.348, which indicates a weak positive relationship between the two variables.

Social Warmth Is a Term Referring to the Feeling of Being