Robert Kern wrote: > The difference between the two models is that the first places no restrictions > on the distribution of x. The second does; both the x and y marginal > distributions need to be normal. Under the first model, the correlation > coefficient has no meaning.
That is not correct. The correlation coefficient is meaningful in both models, but must be interpreted differently. However, in both cases a correlation coefficient of 1 or -1 indicates an exact linear relationship between x and y. Under the first model ("linear regression"), the squared correlation coefficient is the "explained variance", i.e. the the proportion of y's variance accounted for by the model y = m*x + o. Under the second model ("multivariate normal distribution"), the correlation coefficient is the covariance of y and x divided by the product of the standard deviations, cov(x,y)/(std(x)*std(y)). -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list