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Is it possible to have the following sample correlation matrix for $x$, $y$, $z$?

$\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0.8 & 0.2 \\ 0.8 & 1 & 0.7\\ 0.2 & 0.7 & 1\end{pmatrix}$

Where a 3 by 3 correlation matrix is $\begin{pmatrix} 1 & p_{xy} & p_{xz} \\ p_{yx} & 1 & p_{yz}\\ p_{zx} & p_{zy} & 1\end{pmatrix}$, and the $p$'s (partial correlations) are unequal, making this different more general than a similar question with equal partial correlations posed elsewhere.

My answer is yes, and my reasoning is: all the diagonal entries have value $1$, the matrix is symmetric and all entries are between $-1$ and $1$

Is my reasoning good enough? Are there other points that I'm missing?

user59036
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  • Please [search our site](http://stats.stackexchange.com/search?q=correlation+matrix+positive+definite) to read many more answers to your question. Your reasoning is good but it's not complete. – whuber Feb 24 '17 at 00:53
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    As I understand it, the question "Bound for correlation of three random variables" referred to above deals only with the case when all the off-diagonal entries have the same value $\rho$ whereas here the off-diagonal terms have different values. Maybe there is more here than meets the eye... I vote to re-open at least until the Moderators find a better question and answer to point to as a duplicate. – Dilip Sarwate Feb 24 '17 at 02:37
  • Note, in OP's Q $p_{xy}\neq p_{xz}\neq p_{yz}$ so that the question mentioned does not answer this. This question is more general but also just algebra. For ans, just derive conditions for probabilities from https://www.easycalculation.com/statistics/learn-correlation-matrix.php that is, their definition. – Carl Feb 24 '17 at 05:12
  • @Dilip I apologize if the apparent duplicate does not directly answer the question in your mind. Since this question *has* been answered many times, would you mind nominating one of the other questions as a duplicate then? – whuber Feb 24 '17 at 14:25
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    I have voted to close this question as a duplicate of [Completing a $3\times 3$ correlation matrix $\ldots$](http://stats.stackexchange.com/q/254282/6633) but actually it is [this answer to the question](http://stats.stackexchange.com/a/254288/6633) that has the important stuff. It says "The correlation matrix should be positive semidefinite and [hence its principal minors should be nonnegative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive-definite_matrix#Characterizations)." _That_ is the point that you are missing, and why @whuber said that your reasoning is not complete. – Dilip Sarwate Feb 24 '17 at 16:06

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