Raiders of the Lost Correlation: A Guide on Using Pearson and Spearman Coefficients to Detect Hidden Correlations in Medical Sciences
Alessandro Rovetta
Abstract
Pearson and Spearman correlations are important tools for all scientific fields and are widely used in medical sciences, especially during the current COVID-19 pandemic emergency. This technical report has shown that conventional criteria for evaluating the adoption of these coefficients can conceal substantial scientific information regarding correlations that occur above or below a certain threshold. In particular, the Pearson coefficient can reveal hidden correlations even when data are not normally distributed. Finally, an optimized operational guide to reveal any hidden correlation is reported.
Topics & Concepts
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficientSpearman's rank correlation coefficientMedicineStatisticsCorrelationCorrelation coefficientDistance correlationMathematicsRandom variableGeometryCOVID-19 epidemiological studies