CORREL Process

To access this process:

  • Sample Analysis ribbon >> Statistics >> Statistics Processes >> Bivariate Statistics.
  • View the Find Command screen, select CORREL and click Run.
  • Enter "CORREL" into the Command Line and press <ENTER>.

See this process in the Command Table

Process Overview

Calculates bivariate statistics on pairs of numeric fields in a file. All results are output as the bottom left-hand triangle of a full two-dimensional matrix. Output is written to the display, and includes the following:-

  • a summary of the mean and variance of each numeric field.

  • sample number matrix.

  • correlation matrix.

  • covariance matrix.

  • F ratio matrix.

  • paired t test matrix.

The sample number matrix contains the number of pairs of samples for each pair of fields. This shows when one or other of the fields has absent data values. If none of the records contain missing data then all the elements of the matrix will contain the same value.

The mean and variance of each field shown in the summary statistics are calculated using all the available data, whereas the matrices are calculated using only data where neither sample is missing. Thus if there is missing data it is not possible for example to calculate the correlation coefficient from the covariance and variances. Bivariate statistics are calculated by default for all pairs of numeric fields. Thus if for example the data file contains sample co-ordinates statistics will be calculated for the X and Y co-ordinates.

Also see this online Knowledge Base article (Internet connection required).

Statistics

Correlation Coefficient

The correlation coefficient is a number between -1 and 1 which measures the degree to which two variables are linearly related. If there is perfect linear relationship with positive slope between the two variables, we have a correlation coefficient of 1; if there is positive correlation, whenever one variable has a high (low) value, so does the other. Further details are available from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_product-moment_correlation_coefficient

http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/steps/glossary/paired_data.html

Covariance

Covariance provides a measure of the strength of the correlation between two or more sets of random variables. For example between Au and Ag in a set of samples. Further details are available from:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Covariance.html

F Ratio Test

The F Ratio test determines whether the variances of two sets of measured values with different numbers of samples are significantly different from each other. For example to compare the variance of Au grades for samples in rock types A and B . Further details are available from:

http://www.acastat.com/Handbook/14.html

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda3673.htm

Paired t Test

The paired t test determines whether two paired sets of measured values are significantly different from each other. For example if a set of samples are analysed by two laboratories and you want to test whether there is a difference between them. Further details are available from:

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/prc/section3/prc311.htm

http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/statpaired.html

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Pairedt-Test.html

Pooled t test

The pooled t test determines whether two sets of measured values with different numbers of samples are significantly different from each other. For example to compare the mean Au grade for samples in rock types A and B . Further details are available from:

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div898/handbook/eda/section3/eda353.htm

http://www.stat.yale.edu/Courses/1997-98/101/meancomp.htm

Input Files

Name

Description

I/O Status

Required

Type

IN

Input file.

Input

Yes

Undefined

FIELDLST

File to supply selected fields.

Input

No

Undefined

Output Files

Name

I/O Status

Required

Type

Description

Fields

Name

Description

Source

Required

Type

Default

F1

First field to be correlated. No fields specified means all.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F2

Second field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F3

Third field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F4

Fourth field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F5

Fifth field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F6

Sixth field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F7

Seventh field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F8

Eighth field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F9

Ninth field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

F10

Tenth field to be correlated.

IN

No

Numeric

Undefined

FIELDNAM

Field in FIELDLST to identify selected fields.

FIELDLST

No

Character

Undefined

Example

!CORREL    &IN(SAMPLES)  

Error and Warning Messages

Message

Description

ERR 122 <<< ( fileno) IN CORREL

No numeric fields in file, or fields specified were not numeric. Fatal; the process is terminated.

ERR 121 <<< ( fileno) IN CORREL

File read error. Fatal; the process is terminated.