The Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) or phi coefficient is used in machine learning as a measure of the quality of binary (two-class) classifications, introduced by biochemist Brian W. Matthews in 1975. The MCC is defined identically to Pearson's phi coefficient, introduced by Karl Pearson, also known as the Yule phi coefficient from its introduction by Udny Yule in 1912. Despite these antecedents which predate Matthews's use by several decades, the term MCC is widely used in the field of bioinformatics and machine learning. where n is the total number of observations.