Autocorrelation and Scatter Plots

Autocorrelation can easily be shown when one tries to plot the original value against a time-shifted copy of it. Look, for example, at the population of rabbits. The population shows a regular fluctuation within a period of 10 years.

Plotting the rabbit data against itself with no time shift, of course results in a correlation coefficient of 1.0. A time shift of one year already produces a considerably lower correlation coefficient of 0.63.

You should take a closer look at the relationship between the autocorrelation function and the scatter plots by starting the  DataLab .