Correlation Flashcards
Correlation studies
Investigate whether there are relationships between different co-variables
Positive correlation
As one co-variable increases, so does the other
Negative correlation
As one co-variable increases, the other decreases
No correlation
There is no definite trend and the two co-variables don’t appear to be related to eachother
Co-variables
-The variables under analysis
-Called this because they are measured in relation to how they co-vary with each other
Research questions
A broad question about the concept being investigated
-Must end in a ‘?’
Research aims
-A more specific concept within the question that the researcher wants to investigate
-This will impact the research method used
Investigating a ‘relationship’
Leads to a correlation study
investigating ‘cause-and-effect’
Leads to an experiment of some form
Operationalising variables
-Any co-variable needs to be expressed as a number
-Each participant must have two separate (ordinal level) numbers that relate to them, one for each co-variable
Two-tailed correlational hypothesis
‘There will be a significant correlation between the co-variables x and y’
One-tailed correlational hypothesis
‘There will be a significant positive correlation between the co-variables x and y’
OR
‘There will be a significant negative correlation between the co-variables x and y’
Null correlational hypothesis
‘There will not be a significant correlation between the co-variables x and y; any relationship will be due to chance factors’
Primary data
Data gathered directly from participants by the researcher
Secondary data
Data that has been gathered by someone other than the researcher
