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Correlational research

Date published May 1, 2019 by Shona McCombes. Date updated: September 19, 2019

A correlational research design measures a relationship between two variables


without the researcher controlling either of them. It aims to find out whether there is
either:

Positive correlation

Both variables change in the same direction

As height increases, weight also increases

Negative correlation

The variables change in opposite directions

As coffee consumption increases, tiredness decreases

Zero correlation

There is no relationship between the variables

Coffee consumption is not correlated with height


When to use a correlational research design
Correlational research is a type of descriptive research (as opposed to experimental
research). There are two main situations where you might choose to do correlational
research.

1. You want to find out if there is a relationship between two variables, but
you don’t expect to find a causal relationship between them.
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Examples

You want to know if people who have higher incomes are more likely to be
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vegetarian. You don’t think that income causes vegetarianism (or vice versa), but
finding a relationship could lead to a better understanding of the factors that
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influence or limit people’s dietary choices.

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You want to know if there is any correlation between the number of children
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people have and which political party they vote for. You don’t thinkBase
having more
children causes people to vote differently — it’s more likely that both are
influenced by other variables such as age, religion, ideology and socioeconomic
status. But a strong correlation could be useful for making predictions about
voting patterns.

2. You think there is a causal relationship between two variables, but it is


impractical or unethical to conduct experimental research that

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manipulates one of the variables.
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Examples Login

You hypothesize that passive smoking causes asthma in children. You can’t do an
experiment to test the hypothesis — it would be unethical to deliberately expose
some children to passive smoking. But you can do a correlational study to find
out if children whose parents smoke are more likely to have asthma than children
whose parents don’t smoke.

You want to test the theory that greenhouse gas emissions cause global
warming. It is not practically possible to do an experiment that controls global
emissions over time, but through observation and large-scale data analysis you
can show a strong correlation that supports the theory.

How to do correlational research


There are many different methods you can use in correlational research. As long as
you don’t manipulate any of the variables, it doesn’t matter where, when or how you
collect the data.

To test for correlation, you will statistically analyze the quantitative data you have
gathered. Correlations can be strong or weak.

The most common methods for this type of research include surveys, observations
and archival data. Academic research often combines various methods. It’s important
to carefully choose and plan your methods to ensure the reliability and validity of
your results.

Surveys
A simple way to research the relationship between variables is through surveys and
questionnaires. You can conduct surveys online, by mail, by phone, or in person. You
ask respondents questions related to the variables you are interested in, and then
statistically analyze the responses.

" Quick and flexible


# Responses may not always be honest or accurate

Example

To find out if there is a relationship between vegetarianism and income, you send
out a questionnaire about diet to a sample of people from different income
brackets. You statistically analyze the responses to determine whether
vegetarians generally have higher incomes.

Naturalistic observation
This is a type of field research, where you gather data about a behaviour or
phenomenon in its natural environment without intervening.

This method often involves recording, counting, describing and categorizing actions
and events. Naturalistic observation can include both qualitative and quantitative
elements, but to find correlation, you focus on data that can be analyzed
quantitatively (e.g. frequencies, durations, scales and amounts).

" Eliminates researcher influence and respondent inaccuracy that might affect the
variables
# Can be time-consuming and unpredictable

Example

To find out if there is a correlation between gender and class participation, you
observe college seminars, note the frequency and duration of students’
contributions, and categorize them based on gender. You statistically analyze the
data to determine whether men are more likely to speak up in class than women.
Archival data
Instead of collecting original data, you can also use data that has already been
collected for a different purpose, such as official records, polls, or previous studies.

" Allows access to large amounts of data to observe changes over time or space
# The data may be unreliable or incomplete

Example

To find out if working hours are related to mental health, you use official national
statistics, health records and scientific studies from several different countries to
find data on average working hours and rates of mental illness. You statistically
analyze the data to see if countries that work fewer hours have better mental
health outcomes.

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Correlation and causation


It’s important to remember that correlation does not imply causation. Just because
you find a correlation between two things doesn’t mean that one of them causes the
other.

Example

You find a strong negative correlation between working hours and mental health:
in countries with lower average working hours, people report better mental
health. However, this doesn’t prove that lower working hours cause an
improvement in mental health. There are many other variables that may
influence the relationship, such as average income, access to mental healthcare,
and cultural norms.

Although correlational research can’t prove causation, with a large amount of


carefully collected and analyzed data, it can strongly support a causal hypothesis. In
the examples above, the health effects of passive smoking and the greenhouse effect
have been supported by so much robust correlational evidence that a causal
relationship is accepted by scientists.

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Shona McCombes
Shona has a bachelor's and two master's degrees, so she's an expert at writing a
great thesis. She has also worked as an editor and teacher, working with students at
all different levels to improve their academic writing.

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Quantitative research is expressed in numbers and is used to test something. Qualitative research is
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A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested by scientific research. It usually predicts a relationship
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2 comments

Noni · September 25, 2019 at 9:05 PM


Hi,Noni is here ,maam this article is very informative for me to prevent me
from confusion,Thanks

Reply

Mayang · September 18, 2019 at 4:48 AM

Thank you ma'am for the information. It' really a great help for me. I know
understand what is positive, negative, and zero correlation.

Reply

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