What are the limitations of using Spearman correlation?
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Spearman correlation has several limitations. Firstly, it is bounded and restricted to a sub-interval of [-1,1], especially when at least one random variable is discrete . This means that small positive values of Spearman's rho may actually indicate a strong positive dependence, and slight negative values may indicate a strong negative dependence. Secondly, Spearman correlation is based on ranks rather than the actual values of the observations, which limits its ability to capture the full range of the data . Additionally, Spearman correlation does not capture the direction or magnitude of the relationship between variables, only the rank order . Finally, Spearman correlation is sensitive to outliers, although it is more robust than the standard correlation coefficient .
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2 Citations | The limitations of using Spearman correlation are that when at least one random variable is discrete, the correlation values are often bounded and restricted to a sub-interval of [-1,1]. |
7 Citations | The limitations of using Spearman correlation are not mentioned in the provided paper. |
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