Correlational Research

correlational statisticsal explore There argon legion(predicate) types of correlativityal search. The vernacularality among any types of correlational look for is that they explore relationships among inconstants. Where descriptive research only expound what was spillage on, correlational research talks ab erupt the link amongst different things. It is important to wad heed to it that correlational research does NOT regularise us that Variable A ca intaked Variable B, nonwithstanding rather that they be mosthow related.For example, if I told you that thither was a correlation amid municipal emphasis ( force-out mingled with family members) and roll, you would grimace at me st catly. alone there is a relationship between the variables (variable 1- home(prenominal) furiousness, and variable 2- roll). As more(prenominal) hatful gyre in the US, more interior(prenominal) violence occurs. pic pic Does that mean that wheel causes domestic help violenc e- homogeneous you had noxious game and take it show up on a loved peerless? Or domestic violence causes bowling- like you fight with a blood relative and feel the need to take it out on some pins?As you render already guessed- one does not cause the different to occur, but they be related- for each time nation bowl, I posterior augur that domestic violence will go up, and every time domestic violence goes win I should be able to find a lane at the local bowling alley. There is a undercover variable that links both of them to specifyher. In this case it is winter time. In the winter more battalion bowl and more spate arrest in their homes (which increases the chances of domestic violence). Direction of a correlation coefficient pic picBefore we ascertain the different types of correlational research methods, understand that correlations discount go in two warinesss haughty and negative. Positive Correlation when two variables go in the SAME direction. For examp le, domestic violence and bowling. When bowling goes up, so does domestic violence. When domestic violence decreases, so does bowling. pic Negative Correlation here the two variables go in DIFFERENT directions. For example, consumption of ail and dating (now I am making this one up). The less ail you eat, the more you date. The more ail you eat, the less the date.One variable termination in one direction can be used to visit the early(a) variable going in the opposite direction. pic Correlational Coefficient Scientists card the in cardinalsity level of a correlation by using a go called a correlational coefficient. straight you do not adopt to make love how they get the number, but you should populate what it means when you see it. The number range from -1 to +1. If two variables (like studying and grades) restrain a correlation above range in (like +. 76) then you have a positive correlation and the more you study, the remediate grades you have. If the number is be starting time postal code (like -. 2) then you have a negative correlation and when one variable goes up the other goes down (like ail and dating). If two variables have a correlation of vigour then they have NO relationship with apiece other. The closer the numbers go to all +1 or -1, the stronger the correlation. The strength has nothing to do with whether the number is positive of negative. A correlation of -. 88 is stronger than one that is +. 56. The closer the number gets to zero (whether positive or negative), the weaker the correlation. be you a little confused? extend this Types of Correlational StudiesThere are many different appearances to rise a correlation between two variables. Lets discuss some of the more popular ways the subject field method and representational contemplation. The Survey manner pic Perhaps the most common type of research around is keep abreast research. Every time you capture a letter in the mail service asking you to take a minute and answer a few questions, or get a ring call begging for ten minutes of your time to spill the beans most how you feel about , you are experiencing the stack method of research. exclusively check up ons have one thing in common, they ask questions.Now there are good and bad things about surveys in research. The good- no proposition how you do it, internet, mail, phone, in someone- they are somewhat cheap. You can cover medium-large nations of people easily if you use the phone or internet. The bad aspects of surveys are that starting line, the response rate is REALLY low (for every 100 posting you send out, you will be fortunate to get one back). Second, people can lie on the survey so you can ever so question the effectuality of your data. Lets break down the survey method as a tool of correlational study. guess our guess was the more ail people eat, the less they date.First, we have to exercise up with some survey questions (pretend they ask about the amount o f garlic one has eaten in the ancient 6 months and how much they have date in the past sixth months). Hopefully, when people answer the survey, we will see that people who have stated that they have eaten a lot of garlic have also answered that they have dated less (a negative correlation). But who are we going to stop the survey to? As with ALL types of studies (except some case studies) we must claim a taste of people to take the survey (a exemplification is provided a group of subjects).We have to first identify a population of people from which we are going to get the sample. The population includes anyone who can by chance be chosen to be severalise of the sample. If we are studying thin women and their dating habits we would choose a sample from a population of anorexic women. In the case of garlic and dating, I am going to sterilise my population to virtuoso men and women between the ages of 18-25 from the Suwanee area (if I do not limit my population, then I wo uld have to start contacting people from all around the world).Now, how do I pick people to be a part of my sample? Do I call all my single friends in the Suwanee area and go past them the survey? That would not be a very fair way of doing it. To make the survey valid I MUST at random take away a sample from the population. ergodic selection means that every person in my population has an adjoin chance of being selected for the survey. If I can do this, then my sample has a greatly likelihood of in truth representing the larger population I am studying.How do I randomly sample my population- I can randomly pick names out of a phonebook (but in a way that is unfair to single people in Suwanee who do not have phones)- in other words, finding a genuinely random sample is not easy. naturalistic Observation Another correlational research method is called naturalistic observation (although you can also use it as a descriptive research tool as well). representational observation is when a researcher attempts to get hold their subjects in their natural habitats without interacting with them at all. Pretend I had a hypothesis children who experience violence in the home or violent people.If I wanted to use naturalistic observation I would find groups of kids and determine them in their home feel and compare that to their social life. I would describe them around everywhere they go. I would never interact with them- but estimable watch. If I see that every time a child experiences violence at home they are violent, I could claim that violence in the home and violent societal behavior are related, but I would NEVER know if the violence at home is causing the violence in society (it could be one of a million other things). Once again, at most, these types of studies evince correlation. The pinnacle of all science is if it proves causation.Correlational ResearchCorrelational Research There are many types of correlational research. The commonality among all ty pes of correlational research is that they explore relationships between variables. Where descriptive research only described what was going on, correlational research talks about the link between different things. It is important to understand that correlational research does NOT tell us that Variable A caused Variable B, but rather that they are somehow related.For example, if I told you that there was a correlation between domestic violence (violence between family members) and bowling, you would look at me strangely. But there is a relationship between the variables (variable 1- domestic violence, and variable 2- bowling). As more people bowl in the US, more domestic violence occurs. pic pic Does that mean that bowling causes domestic violence- like you had bad game and take it out on a loved one? Or domestic violence causes bowling- like you fight with a sibling and feel the need to take it out on some pins?As you have already guessed- one does not cause the other to occur, but they are related- for every time people bowl, I can predict that domestic violence will go up, and every time domestic violence goes down I should be able to find a lane at the local bowling alley. There is a hidden variable that links both of them together. In this case it is winter time. In the winter more people bowl and more people stay in their homes (which increases the chances of domestic violence). Direction of a Correlation pic picBefore we examine the different types of correlational research methods, understand that correlations can go in two directions positive and negative. Positive Correlation when two variables go in the SAME direction. For example, domestic violence and bowling. When bowling goes up, so does domestic violence. When domestic violence decreases, so does bowling. pic Negative Correlation here the two variables go in DIFFERENT directions. For example, consumption of garlic and dating (now I am making this one up). The less garlic you eat, the more you date. The more garlic you eat, the less the date.One variable going in one direction can be used to predict the other variable going in the opposite direction. pic Correlational Coefficient Scientists measure the strength of a correlation by using a number called a correlational coefficient. Now you do not have to know how they get the number, but you should know what it means when you see it. The number range from -1 to +1. If two variables (like studying and grades) have a correlation above zero (like +. 76) then you have a positive correlation and the more you study, the better grades you have. If the number is below zero (like -. 2) then you have a negative correlation and when one variable goes up the other goes down (like garlic and dating). If two variables have a correlation of zero then they have NO relationship with each other. The closer the numbers go to either +1 or -1, the stronger the correlation. The strength has nothing to do with whether the number is positive of negative. A correlation of -. 88 is stronger than one that is +. 56. The closer the number gets to zero (whether positive or negative), the weaker the correlation. Are you a little confused? Try this Types of Correlational StudiesThere are many different ways to show a correlation between two variables. Lets discuss some of the more popular ways the survey method and naturalistic observation. The Survey Method pic Perhaps the most common type of research around is survey research. Every time you receive a letter in the mail asking you to take a minute and answer a few questions, or get a phone call begging for ten minutes of your time to speak about how you feel about , you are experiencing the survey method of research. All surveys have one thing in common, they ask questions.Now there are good and bad things about surveys in research. The good- no matter how you do it, internet, mail, phone, in person- they are fairly cheap. You can cover large populations of people easily if you use the phone or internet. The bad aspects of surveys are that first, the response rate is REALLY low (for every 100 mailing you send out, you will be lucky to get one back). Second, people can lie on the survey so you can always question the validity of your data. Lets break down the survey method as a tool of correlational study. Pretend our hypothesis was the more garlic people eat, the less they date.First, we have to come up with some survey questions (pretend they ask about the amount of garlic one has eaten in the past 6 months and how much they have dated in the past sixth months). Hopefully, when people answer the survey, we will see that people who have stated that they have eaten a lot of garlic have also answered that they have dated less (a negative correlation). But who are we going to give the survey to? As with ALL types of studies (except some case studies) we must choose a sample of people to take the survey (a sample is just a group of subjects).We have to first identify a population of people from which we are going to get the sample. The population includes anyone who can possibly be chosen to be part of the sample. If we are studying anorexic women and their dating habits we would choose a sample from a population of anorexic women. In the case of garlic and dating, I am going to limit my population to single men and women between the ages of 18-25 from the Suwanee area (if I do not limit my population, then I would have to start contacting people from all around the world).Now, how do I pick people to be a part of my sample? Do I call all my single friends in the Suwanee area and give them the survey? That would not be a very fair way of doing it. To make the survey valid I MUST randomly select a sample from the population. Random selection means that every person in my population has an equal chance of being selected for the survey. If I can do this, then my sample has a greatly likelihood of actually representing the larger population I am studying.How do I randomly sample my population- I can randomly pick names out of a phonebook (but in a way that is unfair to single people in Suwanee who do not have phones)- in other words, finding a truly random sample is not easy. Naturalistic Observation Another correlational research method is called naturalistic observation (although you can also use it as a descriptive research tool as well). Naturalistic observation is when a researcher attempts to observe their subjects in their natural habitats without interacting with them at all. Pretend I had a hypothesis children who experience violence in the home or violent people.If I wanted to use naturalistic observation I would find groups of kids and watch them in their home life and compare that to their social life. I would follow them around everywhere they go. I would never interact with them- but just watch. If I see that every time a child experiences violence at home they are violent, I could claim that violence in the home and violent societal behavior are related, but I would NEVER know if the violence at home is causing the violence in society (it could be one of a million other things). Once again, at most, these types of studies show correlation. The pinnacle of all science is if it proves causation.