Excel Solution for Correlation Cofficient

11: Calculating the Pearson Correlation Coefficient with Excel

We start by

entering the

data of the

exams scores of

the 10 first‐year

psychology

students (Book p

283). The first

column shows

the scores on

the Stats exam;

the second

those of the

Social

Psychology

exam.

Although it is tempting to build the complete auxiliary table with the various equations (please, feel free to do so!), we’ll

limit ourselves to the built‐in function to calculate Pearson product‐moment correlations.

Marc Brysbaert www.palgrave.com/psychology/brysbaert

Basic Statistics for Psychologists 11: Calculating the Pearson Correlation Coefficient with Excel

Palgrave, 2011 1

Activate Cell E1

(or whichever

cell in which you

want to have

your

correlation).

Click on fx to

open the

function panel of

Excel:

Select the

function CORREL

from the

Statistical

functions. Click

on OK.



Palgrave, 2011 2

Enter A1:A10 in

the first entry

box and B1:B10

in the second

(tip: you can

easily do this by

putting your

cursor in the

entry box and

then going with

the mouse over

the cells while

keeping the left

key pressed).

Then click OK.

This gives you

the correlation

value of .4508

(check with the

solution on p.

284 of the book)

To calculate the intercept and the regression weight of the regression line, we can again make use of the formulas

described in the book or make use of the built‐in Excel functions. We demonstrate the latter (please, feel free to make your

own file with all the relevant information!).

Select the

function

INTERCEPT from

the Statistical

library.



Palgrave, 2011 3

Enter B1:B10 in

the box asking

for known_y’s

(the values that

have to be

predicted) and

A1:A10 in the

box asking for

known_x’s (the

values that are

used as

predictors).

Then click on OK

This gives you

the value of the

intercept:



Palgrave, 2011 4

To find the value

of the slope of

the regression

line, use the

function SLOPE

This gives you

the required

value (cf. p 284):



Palgrave, 2011 5

In addition, we

may want to

have a scatter

plot of the data.

For this, go with

the cursor to Cell

E7 (or so) and

click on Insert

and Scatter:

Choose the

scatter plot:



Palgrave, 2011 6

Click on Select

Data.

Activate all

numbers both in

column A and B

by going over

them with the

mouse (left

button pressed

in). Start in Cell

A1 and go to Cell

B10. Then click

on OK:



Palgrave, 2011 7

This gives you

the desired plot,

even though the

values on the

axis may not be

optimal:

To change this

activate the axis

you want to

change by left

clicking on it.

Then click on the

right mouse

button to see

the following

panel:



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Select Format

Axis and adjust

the minimum

and maximum

value to desired

values:

Then do the

same for the Y‐

axis:



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Which will give

you the

following

picture, in which

you can then

add axis labels,

titles, etc…

You can also try

out different

Chart Layouts.

To add the

regression line,

activate the dots

of the scatter

plot by clicking

on one of them.

Then click on the

right mouse

button to get

the following

panel, from

which you select

Add Trendline.



Palgrave, 2011 10

With a bit of

editing you may

get something as

follows:



Palgrave, 2011 11

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Excel Solution for Correlation Cofficient