Spearman S Correlation Table. Spearman s rho is the correlation used to assess the relationship between two ordinal variables. Spearman s rho is a popular method for correlating unvalidated survey instruments or likert type survey responses.
Linear means a relationship when two variables change in the same direction at a constant rate. This example nicely illustrates the difference between these correlations. Spearman s rho is prevalent in the social sciences as most survey instruments use likert type or ordinal scales to allow participants to rate themselves along a continuum.
Ranking from low to high is obtained by assigning a rank of 1 to the lowest value 2 to the next lowest and so on.
The spearman s rank coefficient of correlation is a nonparametric measure of rank correlation statistical dependence of ranking between two variables. Spearman correlation the basics. Spearman s correlation assesses the degree of linear association between two variables measured at the ordinal level. Monotonicity is less restrictive than that of a linear relationship.