Formulas > =PEARSON()

How To Use PEARSON() Function in Google Sheets

Description

Calculates r, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of a dataset.

Common Questions about the PEARSON Formula:
-What is the PEARSON formula?
-What does the PEARSON formula do?
-How do I calculate PEARSON in Google Sheets?

How can the PEARSON formula be used appropriately?
The PEARSON formula can be used to calculate the Pearson correlation coefficient to measure the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables. It can also be used to generate a P-value which tests the significance of the correlation.

How can the PEARSON formula be commonly mistyped?
The PEARSON formula in Google Sheets uses the syntax PEARSON (x data range, y data range). A common mistake is to forget to include the parentheses or to mistype the name as ‘person’ instead of ‘pearson’.

What are some common ways the PEARSON formula is used inappropriately?
The PEARSON formula should only be used to measure linear relationships, while non-linear relationships should be analyzed with other statistical models. The formula should also not be used to analyze more than two variables at a time.

What are some common pitfalls when using the PEARSON formula?
The PEARSON formula does not indicate anything about the form of the relationship between the two variables, so a correlation coefficient of ‘1’ does not necessarily indicate the variables are perfectly related. Additionally, the PEARSON formula can be influenced by outliers or extreme values, so any data should be examined for irregularities before calculating the PEARSON.

What are common mistakes when using the PEARSON Formula?
-Using the formula on data with non-linear relationships.
-Failing to use P-values to assess significance of the correlation.
-Forgetting to remove outliers or extreme values before calculating the PEARSON.
-Incorrectly typing/formatting the formula into the Google Sheets document.

What are common misconceptions people might have with the PEARSON Formula?
-That a correlation coefficient of ‘1’ indicates a perfect relationship between two variables.
-That the PEARSON formula can be used to analyze more than two variables. 
-That the PEARSON formula can be used to determine causality between two variables.

How To Actually Use PEARSON() in Sheets

PEARSON(data_y, data_x)

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