Lecture 6 Flashcards
What does Correlational research examine?
General relationships between variable of interest for particular questions
What does Correlational Research involve?
Measuring at least two variables and then determining whether a relationship exists
What is important to remember about correlational research?
Variables are only ever measured, never manipulated
What are the Advantages of Correlational Research?
- Gauges the strengths of relationship present
- Can be used to make predictions about variables
- Identifies ‘real-world’ associations
- Can be used to study things that we wouldn’t be able to ethically manipulate
What are the Disadvantages of Correlational Research?
- Because studies can take place outside the lab, they can be uncontrolled
- Correlation is not causation
What does the Bidirectionality problem and the third variable problem demonstrate?
That interpreting correlations is complicated
What does the Bidirectionality problem ask?
Does x cause y or does y cause x
What does the Third Variable problem ask?
Is there another unaccounted for variable involved in the relationship
How can correlation be mathematically described?
The correlation coefficient
How does the Correlation Coefficient work?
Between -1 and 1 indicated the direction (positive or negative). The absolute value indicates strengths of relationship between two variable. 0.1 small effect
What does a positive correlation graph look like?
As x increases, y increases
As x decreases y decreases
What does a negative correlation graph look like?
As x increases, y decreases
As x decreases, y increases
What are the 3 main characteristics of experiments?
A manipulated variable
A measured variable
Controlled variables
