Correlation- research methods

Question 1

Define correlation

Answer 1

Correlation studies investigates whether there are relationships between different co-variables

Question 2

Co-variables

Answer 2

so called because they are measured and compared to see how they co-vary in relation to each other

Question 3

Positive correlation

Answer 3

This is when there is a relationship between two variables and when one co-variable increases so does another e.g. You would expect a
positive correlation between
how tall people are and their
arm length

Question 4

Negative correlation

Answer 4

This is when there is a relationship but when one co-variable increases the other decreases e.g. It would be expected that an increase in the
number of maths lessons
missed would relate to a
lower score on a maths test

Question 5

No correlation

Answer 5

There is no trend or relationship between two Co-variables. e.g. You wouldn’t expect to find any relationship between how many keys you own and your score on an IQ test

Question 6

Operationalising variables

Answer 6

How you would make the co-variables measurable and testable

Question 7

Alternative hypothesis for correlations

Answer 7

A prediction that there will be a statistically significant relationship between the co-variables

Question 8

Two tailed hypothesis for correlation

Answer 8

Does not indicate a direction. There will be a significant correlation or relationship between co-variables y and z

Question 9

One tailed hypothesis for correlation

Answer 9

This indicates the DIRECTION the results are expected to go in.
There will be a significant positive correlation between co-variables x and y. There will be a significant negative correlation between co-variables x and y

Question 10

Null hypothesis for correlation

Answer 10

This indicates that there will be no correlation. For example, There will be no significant correlation between co-variables x and y. Any relationship is due to chance.

Question 11

A research question

Answer 11

is a question related to what you are interested in finding out (must have a ?)

Question 12

A research aim

Answer 12

is a statement about the purpose of the study

Question 13

What level of data is used in correlation

Answer 13

The data you collect has to be quantitative and at least at ordinal level therefore, no open questions (this will give you qualitative data), no closed questions (this will give you nominal data).

Question 14

What information do you need to find from participants

Answer 14

You need to find two sets of information for the same participants. You then compare this information to see if there is a relationship.

Question 15

Correlation co-efficient

Answer 15

This is somewhere between -1 and +1
- a correlation that has a plus sign as part of it’s correlation co-efficient is a positive correlation
- A correlation that has a minus sign as part of it correlation co-efficient is a negative correlation
- A correlation with a co-efficient around zero represent no correlation

Question 16

Scatter graph

Answer 16

The appropriate form of descriptive statistic to use to display the results of a correlation study visually is a scatter graph. Each cross on a scatter graph represents a different pair of values, with the total number of crosses indicating the sizes of the data set the researcher has been working on.