CORRELATION COEFFICIENT (R)

(Statistics) A measure of the coincidence of change between two variables. The use of the correlation coefficient makes no inference as to causation, i.e., one variable causing changes to occur in another; it only represents a measure of the simultaneous behavior between two variables which either are related or are being affected similarly by a third variable. The value of the correlation coefficient will vary between -1.00 (-100 percent) and +1.00 (+100 percent) with higher numbers representing stronger levels of coincidence of changes. Positive correlation coefficients denote that the two series evidence changes in the same direction while negative correlation coefficients reflect an inverse relationship between changes in one series and another.