CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH

Presented by Nataly Castro

DEFINITION It is the systematic investigation of relationships among two or more variables, without necessarily determining cause and effect.

TYPES OF CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH

Relational studies ex: Exists a relationship between the

time that students spend on Internet chatting the night before an exam and the scores that they get. Prediction studies

ex: the next grades of the students are going to be similar to the last exam (according to the first example)

WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

Identify the

variables

QuestionData

Calculs

Results

DATA CAN BE COLLECTED FROM:

Surveys.

Score on various test or rating scales

Demographic information

ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON?

Question• Do student grades relate to whether

they are “morning people”?MethodThe researchers correlated two kinds of

variables• Grades in early and late classes• Scores on a scale of “morningness” (13-

item inventory)

Result There was a modest, significant,

correlation between morningness and grades at 8:00 a.m., r= 0,1

Students who were not morning people did less well at 8:00 and performed better in later classes.

CONCLUSION?

CONCLUSION

The pattern did not hold for classes starting at 9:00 or later. So even “evening people” can do well in early classes.

The study is correlational, so we do not know if being a morning person is the cause of better grades in the morning

Correlational Studies involve relationships among variables. It is not possible to make determinations of causation with a correlational study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Clarke, R. J. (2005) Research

Methodologies Smith, C. S., Reilly, C., & Midkiff, K. (1989).

Evaluation of three circadian rhythm questionnaires with suggestions for an improved measure of morningness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 728-738

ACTIVITY