What is the most likely correlation between fathers' heights and their 16-year-old sons' heights?

The correlation between fathers' heights and their 16-year-old sons' heights is most likely to be positive, reflecting a relationship where taller fathers tend to have taller sons. A correlation of near +0.7 indicates a strong positive relationship, suggesting that as the height of the father increases, the height of the son also tends to increase significantly.

Height is a trait influenced by genetic factors, and because there is a strong genetic component to stature, we would expect a substantial correlation between the heights of fathers and their sons. A correlation closer to +1.0 would indicate a perfect linear relationship, but in reality, there are other factors at play, such as environmental influences and variations within the population, making +0.7 a more accurate estimate.

The other options reflect weaker or negative relationships that do not accurately characterize the expected correlation in this context. Negative correlations (like near -0.5) or no correlation (like near +0.0) do not align with genetic inheritance patterns, where we observe that heights are often correlated positively within families.