Correlations

Question 1

What is a correlation?

Answer 1

A statistical technique in which a researcher investigates an association between 2 variables

Question 2

What happens to the information from a correlation?

Answer 2

It is plotted on a scattergram where each axis represents one of the variables being investigated

Question 3

What is the correlation coefficient?

Answer 3

A number between -1 and +1 that represents the direction and strength of a relationship between co-variables

Question 4

What does the number in a correlation coefficient tell you?

Answer 4

The strength - closer to +1 or -1 means stronger, closer to 0 means weaker

Question 5

What does the correlation coefficient tell us?

Answer 5

Whether the relationship found is statistically significant or not.
This helps them to decide whether to accept the research hypothesis or the null hypothesis

Question 6

What are the strengths of correlations? (4)

Answer 6

• Quick and economical - data is often pre-existing
• More ethical - as there’s no manipulation of variables
• Provides quantifiable measure of how variables are related
• May suggest ideas for future research

Question 7

What are the weaknesses of correlations? (3)

Answer 7

• Can’t establish a cause and effect relationship (they only tell us they’re related not why they’re related)
• Confounding variables may have caused the relationship
• Can’t control extraneous variables