What does a correlation coefficient closer to 1.0 indicate?

A correlation coefficient closer to 1.0 indicates a high correlation between two variables. This means that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase as well, showing a strong positive relationship. A correlation coefficient of 1.0 represents a perfect positive correlation, where the data points lie exactly on a straight line with a positive slope.

Understanding correlation coefficients is important because they help quantify the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables. In practical applications, a high correlation can suggest a reliable predictive relationship, which is beneficial in fields such as statistics, psychology, and economics, where understanding relationships among variables is crucial for making informed decisions or predictions.