covariance

This term describes the directional relationship between two variables, indicating whether they tend to move in the same direction or opposite directions. It captures the raw scale of the relationship, which makes it sensitive to the units of measurement used for the variables. Because it lacks a standardized scale, it is often viewed as a stepping stone to correlation. While covariance tells you the sign of the relationship, it does not provide a normalized value between negative one and one, making it less intuitive for comparing different pairs of data sets.