In statistics, a relationship between two variables is negative if the slope in a corresponding graph is negative, or—what is in some contexts equivalent—if the correlation between them is negative. Negative correlation is also variously called anti-correlation or indirect correlation.
Example:
"They observed a negative relationship between illness and vaccination."
As incident of vaccination is increasing, incidence of illness is decreasing, and vice versa.
Compare to a positive relationship: Observed a positive relationship between illness and missed work.
As incidence of illness increased, sick days taken also increased.
Famous quotes containing the words negative and/or relationship:
“Most literature on the culture of adolescence focuses on peer pressure as a negative force. Warnings about the “wrong crowd” read like tornado alerts in parent manuals. . . . It is a relative term that means different things in different places. In Fort Wayne, for example, the wrong crowd meant hanging out with liberal Democrats. In Connecticut, it meant kids who weren’t planning to get a Ph.D. from Yale.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“But the relationship of morality and power is a very subtle one. Because ultimately power without morality is no longer power.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)