Hand Length vs.

Height
Harrison Brennan

Introduction:
 The purpose of this project is to determine if there is a correlation between the length of a
person’s hand and their height. I will measure an individual’s hand length from the bottom of the
hand to the tip of middle finger in centimeters. Then, I will ask them for their height in
centimeters. I will plot the hand length as the explanatory variable and the height as the response
variable. We hypothesize that if hand length increases, height will increase with a positive,
strong correlation (r = .732). In order to gather this data, I used a sample survey. A sample
survey is to survey some groups of individuals by studying only some of its members.

Data Set:

Population is the entire group of individuals being studied, while sample is a part of a
population from which we actually collected data. In my project, the population consists of the
entire DAHS student body and the sample is the twenty-six students used to gather data. A
variable is any characteristic of an individual. The length of one’s hand will be plotted as the
explanatory variable and the height as the response variable. I chose to use the length of the hand
as the explanatory because we are trying to see if hand length has an effect on height.

Interpret r & r2:

Correlation describes the direction and strength of a straight line relationship. Our
correlation value was r= .783. If r=.783, the correlation is positive meaning as hand length
increases, height increases. The correlation of .783 means the correlation is strong, meaning the
correlation is valid. This means that predictions can be made with certainty using this collected
data.

The coefficient of determination is the variation in the values of y that is explained by the
least squares regression line of y on x (accuracy). This is denoted by r2. Since r=.783, then
r2=.613 meaning any prediction has a 61.3% variation. This means that predictions are made
with 61.3% accuracy.

Prediction:

The least squares regression line is the line that makes the sum of the squares of the
vertical distance as small as possible. The equation of a regression line is y=mx+b. The equation
of our least squares regression line is y=5.168x + 80.414. If I wanted to find out what what
someone’s height is if their hand length is 16 cm, then I would use the following steps. First, I
plug in 16 for the explanatory variable: y=5.168(16) + 80.414. Once the equation is solved, it is
determined that y=163.102. Therefore, if someone’s hand length is 16 cm, then I predict their
height to be 163.102 cm with a 61.3% variation.

Lurking Variables:
 A lurking variable is a variable that has an important effect on the relationship among
variables in a study, but is not one of the explanatory variables. One lurking variable is gender. I
did not take into account that gender may affect the correlation between hand length and height.
Another lurking variable would be a person’s age. If the person is, younger, they may not be
done growing yet and thus the correlation between hand length and height may be affected. Both
of these variables would affect the response. A confounding response is when the explanatory
variable and the lurking variable affects the response variable. Both of these create a
confounding response because if gender varies and age is lower, then this would also affect their
hand length to height correlation. In technical terms, one variable that isn't the explanatory
variable causes the response to change or both cause the response to change.

Conclusion:

If hand length increases, height will increase with a positive, strong correlation. My
hypothesis is correct. The correlation value is r=.783. I predicted a correlation of r=.732, so I was
extremely close to predicting the true value. Since the correlation is positive, this proves that I
am correct. Also, the correlation is strong (between 0.700 and 1.000), so this once again proves
my hypothesis to be correct. Therefore, it can be stated that as hand length increases, height will
increase with positive strong correlation.