Definition: Correlation coefficient

Category: OECD - Business tendency surveys

Given a pair of related variables (X and Y), the correlation coefficient (r)measures the degree to which they co-vary in a linear fashion. r will be positive when the two variables move in the same direction and negative when the two variables move in opposite directions. r takes values from -1 to +1. Ignoring the sign, the larger the value of r the greater the strength of the association between the two variables. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/OECD_Business_Tendency_Surveys_Handbook_EN.pdf