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Case Study

Based on the visual pattern in the scatterplot, diagnose the specific type of relationship present between stress levels and immune system functioning. Explain what this visual pattern means regarding how the scores of the two variables are associated in this study.

Case context: A health psychology researcher is investigating the relationship between students' stress levels and their immune system functioning during final exams. After collecting quantitative data on self-reported stress and the concentration of antibodies in the students' saliva, the researcher plots the data on a scatterplot. The resulting graph shows data points that generally trend downward from the upper left to the lower right.

Question: Based on the visual pattern in the scatterplot, diagnose the specific type of relationship present between stress levels and immune system functioning. Explain what this visual pattern means regarding how the scores of the two variables are associated in this study.

Sample answer: The scatterplot indicates a negative relationship, or negative correlation, between stress and immune system functioning. Because the points trend downward from the upper left to the lower right, it means that higher scores in stress tend to be associated with lower scores (lower antibody concentration) in immune system functioning.

Key points:

  • The relationship shown on the scatterplot is a negative relationship (or negative correlation).
  • The downward trend from upper left to lower right visually represents this specific relationship.
  • Comprehending the relationship means recognizing that higher scores on the stress variable are associated with lower scores on the immune system variable.

Rubric: The response must correctly identify the relationship as a negative relationship (or negative correlation) based on the visual trend, and clearly explain that the downward trend means higher stress scores are associated with lower immune system scores.

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Updated 2026-05-27

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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