what is a trend in scatter plots?
A trend in scatter plots refers to the general relationship or pattern observed between two variables represented by the plot. It reveals the nature of the relationship between the x and y variables. Trends can be classified as positive, negative, or no correlation.
- Positive trend: When the data points in the scatter plot generally tend to increase from left to right, it indicates a positive trend or positive correlation. This implies that as the value of the x variable increases, the value of the y variable also tends to increase.
- Negative trend: When the data points in the scatter plot generally tend to decrease from left to right, it indicates a negative trend or negative correlation. This means that as the value of the x variable increases, the value of the y variable tends to decrease.
- No trend: If the data points in a scatter plot do not display any particular pattern or do not have a clear direction, it suggests no correlation or a weak correlation between the variables. In this case, the data points are scattered randomly across the plot.