A cheesemaker may be interested in the correlations of the chemical constituents with taste
and with each other. A correlation coefficient by itself does not indicate whether two variables
have a strong relationship! It is possible, for example, for X and Y to have a curvilinear
relationship with a small correlation. It is also possible for a correlation coefficient near 1 or -1
to be solely due to an outlying point. To see if linear relationships of the chemicals with taste
are reasonable, plots of the variables should be constructed before pursuing regression or
correlation analyses. One way to produce the plots of taste versus the chemicals is shown
below.