Correlation coefficient (${\rho }_{X,Y}$)

For random variables with finite positive variances,

For square-integrable variables of positive variance, correlation one is equivalent to $X-\mathbb{E}X=c(Y-\mathbb{E}Y)$ with $c>0$. The squared norm of the difference between the two standardized centered variables is $2(1-\rho )$, proving the equivalence. For uncentered variables the relationship can have a nonzero intercept; it need not be proportionality.

For two strictly positive zero-rate stock martingales with bounded volatilities and the same initial value, proportional terminal prices must be equal because their expectations coincide. Conditional expectation then makes the whole paths equal. Comparing their stochastic integrals by the Itô isometry gives equality of the volatility coefficients almost everywhere in time and probability. Perfect positive correlation alone does not provide the required proportionality.

The stocks $S_t=e^{B_t-t/2}$ and $S_t^{\prime }=(1+S_t)/2$ start at one, are true square-integrable zero-rate martingales, and have perfect positive correlation at each positive time. Their bounded multiplicative volatilities are $1$ and $S_t/(1+S_t)$, which differ throughout. The additive intercept is what allows the same correlation but different stochastic-exponential coefficients.

Responses observed on the same process or individual at different times may have nonzero correlation coefficients. Such serial correlation can arise from a shared random effect or from history-dependent conditional means. A scalar dispersion parameter adjustment alone does not represent this temporal dependence.

The intraclass correlation coefficient measures the correlation between observations in the same group. In a random-intercept model with group variance ${\sigma }_G^2$ and individual variance ${\sigma }_I^2$, it is ${\sigma }_G^2/({\sigma }_G^2+{\sigma }_I^2)$.