correlational research

Definition
Correlational research: A type of non-intervention research using one of several designs that measure individual differences in an attempt to uncover relationships between variables.

Notes

Correlational research is a close cousin to causal comparative research. Both suffer from the same inherent limitation: lack of intervention and resultant loss of control.

The main difference between causal comparative research and correlational research, you'll recall from Chapter 3, is the type of scale used in the analysis. Correlational research uses variables that are scaled continuously, such as number of hours on the Internet per week.

The values of such a scale have no break, so to speak, in that they can be any number from 1 to, say, 60 (i.e., they may run continuously, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and so on to 60). This continuously scaled variable can then be related to (correlated with) another continuously scaled variable, such as scores on a test of vocabulary knowledge, ranging continuously from 0 correct to 50 correct, the maximum possible score.

Contrast these continuous scales with discrete scales, values that are unconnected and distinct, such as teaching method, study method, school climate, learning style, and gender. Causal comparative research, as we have seen, typically employs one discrete (grouping) variable (e.g., male versus female or breastfed versus bottle fed) and one continuously scaled variable (e.g., score on a test of the ability to “read” faces). Correlational research, by contrast, usually employs two continuously scaled variables, such as age and reaction time or weight at birth and measured aptitude.