Section 7.15 Example APA-style Write-up
The following examples demonstrate one acceptable way to report correlation results in APA style.
Subsection 7.15.1 Bivariate Correlation
A Pearson correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between exam anxiety and exam performance. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between anxiety scores and exam scores, r = -0.44, p = 0, indicating that higher anxiety levels were associated with lower exam performance. Approximately 19.4% of the variance in exam scores was shared with anxiety levels.
Subsection 7.15.2 Positive Correlation
A Pearson correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between study time and exam performance, r = .40, p < .001. This indicates that students who spent more time studying tended to earn higher exam scores. Study time accounted for approximately 16% of the variance in exam performance (r² = .16).
Subsection 7.15.3 Partial Correlation
A partial correlation was conducted to examine the relationship between exam anxiety and exam performance while controlling for study time. After controlling for study time, the negative association between anxiety and exam performance was reduced but remained statistically significant, r = −.23, p = .02. This indicates that part of the relationship between anxiety and exam scores overlaps with students’ study habits.
