Chapter 8: Measuring Association

This chapter will consider how to measure the strength and nature of the relationship between two variables that have a limited number of distinct categories. What if we want to examine the relationship between two variables that are measured on an interval or ratio scale? That is what the remainder of the book is about.

OVERVIEW

One of the most frequently asked questions in any study is, "Are these two variables related?" Is education related to voting behavior? Is marital status related to happiness? Is ability to close a sale related to the experience of the salesperson? Is a particular training method related to better results? You usually want to know more than just whether the two variables are related. You also want to know the strength and nature of the relationship. If job satisfaction is related to perceiving life as exciting, how strongly is it related? And does the likelihood of perceiving life as exciting increase or decrease as job satisfaction increases ? Is customer satisfaction related to loyalty? If so, how much and to what extent? Is a new gadget in a process related to increased productivity? If so, to what extent or degree?