Pearson simple linear correlation coefficient and alternative tests

Abstract

The aim of the current study is mainly to clarify the total errors that students and researchers make when using the Pearson correlation coefficient, as it is considered one of the most important and most statistical tests used in the social sciences, especially in the descriptive approach, and given its multiple uses by students and researchers in their various studies and research to test their relational hypotheses, except that through our scientific career and our humble experience in the field of teaching the course of statistics in the field of social sciences, we noticed that there are some errors when using this statistical parameter, which often leads to misleading results. Therefore, we decided during this intervention to provide a simplified explanation in order to correct the uses of this test, with an explanation of the cases that limit its uses, and then provide various alternative tests.