  We use the two-point correlation function to calculate the clustering
properties of the recently completed SSRS2 survey. The redshift space
correlation function for the magnitude-limited SSRS2 is given by xi(s)=(s/5.85
h-1 Mpc)^{-1.60} for separations between 2 < s < 11 h-1 Mpc, while our best
estimate for the real space correlation function is xi(r) = (r/5.36 h-1
Mpc)^{-1.86}. Both are comparable to previous measurements using surveys of
optical galaxies over much larger and independent volumes. By comparing the
correlation function calculated in redshift and real space we find that the
redshift distortion on intermediate scales is small. This result implies that
the observed redshift-space distribution of galaxies is close to that in real
space, and that beta = Omega^{0.6}/b < 1, where Omega is the cosmological
density parameter and b is the linear biasing factor for optical galaxies. We
also use the SSRS2 to study the dependence of xi on the internal properties of
galaxies. We confirm earlier results that luminous galaxies (L>L*) are more
clustered than sub-L* galaxies and that the luminosity segregation is
scale-independent. We find that early types are more clustered than late types,
but that in the absence of rich clusters, the relative bias between early and
late types in real space, is not as strong as previously estimated.
Furthermore, both morphologies present a luminosity-dependent bias, with the
early types showing a slightly stronger dependence on luminosity. We also find
that red galaxies are significantly more clustered than blue ones, with a mean
relative bias stronger than that seen for morphology. Finally, we find that the
relative bias between optical and iras galaxies in real space is b_o/b_I $\sim$
1.4.
