An occupational psychologist wanted to investigate the relationship between the number of hours people work per week and their level of anxiety. A random sample of Australian adults were asked how many hours they typically work per week in paid employment. They were then given a questionnaire regarding their level of anxiety. Anxiety was measured on a metric scale from 0 to 30, with higher values representing greater anxiety.

The occupational psychologist produced a correlation analysis based on the data collected, which revealed the value of Pearson's r to be .19.