Regression, Inference, Model Building Section 12.1 Scatter Plots and Correlation Learning Objectives – Interpret scatter plots. – Understand relationship between scatterplots and correlation. – Calculate and interpret the correlation between two variables. Scatter Plots and Correlation A scatter plot is a graph on the coordinate plane that contains one point for each pair of data. The horizontal axis (x-axis) represents one variable and the vertical axis (y-axis) represents the other. It is important to note that, unlike a line graph, the points on a scatter plot are not connected. Scatter Plots and Correlation The choice of which variable to put on which axis depends on if we believe that one variable might influence the other. If this type of relationship exists, we say that a change in the value of one variable, called the explanator