Correlational Research Types of Correlational Research Designs The first type of correlational design, explanatory design, is conducted when

researchers want to explore the extents to which two or more variables co-vary, that is, where changes in one variable are reflected in changes in the other (Creswell, 2 !, p" #$!%" &hen conducting an explanatory correlational study, researchers typically collect data at one time as their focus is not based on future or past performance of participants" Thus, when analy'ing the findings of explanatory correlation research, researchers analy'e participants as a single group rather than creating subcategories of participants" (inally, in this type of study researchers collect two scores from each participant as each score represents each variable being studied (Creswell, 2 !%" The second type of correlational design, prediction design, is used by researchers when the purpose of the study is to predict certain outcomes in one variable from another variable that serves as the predictor" )rediction designs involve two types of variables* a predictor variable and a criterion variable" &hile the predictor variable is utili'ed to ma+e a forecast or prediction, the criterion variable is the anticipated outcome that is being predicted" )rediction studies can usually be identified rather easily by research consumers simply by ta+ing note of the title of a published study as most published prediction studies include the word prediction in the article,s title" The time at which variables are measured also differs in prediction studies as the predictor variable is typically measured at one time while the criterion variable is usually measured at a later date" )rediction studies also include a forecast of anticipated future performance, as well as advanced statistical procedures including multiple regression" (or further information about multiple regressions see (lin+ to statistics portion of site% (Creswell, 2 !%" Characteristics of Correlational Research -ny time a researcher has at least two scores, a graph called a scatterplot can be used to provide a visual representation of the data that has been collected" .ach point on a scatterplot represents two scores provided by one person" /esearchers must select the scores for one variable to be plotted on the x-axis (the hori'ontal axis of the graph% while scores for the second variable are plotted on the y-axis (the vertical axis of the graph%" 0catterplots are vitally important to correlational research as they allow researchers, as well as research consumers, to determine the following by loo+ing at patterns within the entire group of data points (Creswell, 2 !1 2odico et al", 2 3%* The form of the relationship The type of association The existence of extreme scores The direction of the relationship The degree of the relationship

Consider the following situation*

4r" Thomas has noticed that it seems as though students who earn higher scores on their homewor+ assignments typically also score higher on the 5owa -ssessments" 4r" Thomas wonders if there is a relationship between the amount of time that the students spend on homewor+ each night and their 5owa -ssessment scores" Thus, 4r" Thomas as+s his six grade students to report the amount of time (in minutes% that they spend each evening completing homewor+" 4r" Thomas then created the following table with each student,s name, 5owa -ssessment 6ational 0tandard 0core and the amount of time each student reported spending on homewor+ each night" Iowa Assessment National Standard Score 782 73: 7# 7! 7$ 7=8 732 2 2 273 273 27= 22# 2# 288 2: 2$2 Average Time Spent on Homework Nightly 7 7 7 # 7$ 2 7$ $ 8$ 8 3 3$ = ! :$

Student 4atthew 9ane ;aniel 9ose -rmando <elby 2oren 0amantha -ndrew >rittney <iedis .than ;a+ota 4ia ;amarcus -le?andro

4r" Thomas then uses the above data to create a scatterplot, as 4r" Thomas reali'es that scatterplots are necessary to determine whether a relationship between two variables exists" @e selects to plot students, 5owa -ssessment 6ational 0tandard 0core on the x-axis and the average amount of time (in minutes% that students reported spending on homewor+ each night for two wee+s on the y-axis" 4r" Thomas creates the following scatter plot of his information"

4r" Thomas is satisfied to see that there is a relationship between the amount of time his students reported spending on homewor+ and their 5owa -ssessment 6ational 0tandard 0cores" 5n fact, 4r" Thomas reali'es that a moderate, positive linear relationship exists between the variables he studied" @ow does 4r" Thomas ma+e this determinationA (irst, when reading a scatterplot an individual should consider the form of an association between two variables illustrated on the graph" -ssociations between variables in correlational research can either be linear, nonlinear, or uncorrelated" 2inear associations occur when the scores on one variable relate to the scores on the second variable" (or instance, 4r" Thomas +nows that the association between the amount of time students spend on homewor+ and their 5owa -ssessment scores is linear because, generally, students, 5owa -ssessment scores relate to the amount of time they spent on homewor+" Thus, the data points on 4r" Thomas, scatterplot form a single line (Creswell, 2 !%" 2inear relationships, such as 4r" Thomas,, can be further subcategori'ed as either a positive linear relationship or a negative linear relationship" )ositive linear relationships (such as the one depicted in 4r" Thomas, scatterplot% occur when high scores in one variable relate to high scores for the second variable or low scores in one variable relate to low scores for the second variable being studied" 6egative linear relationships occur when high scores of one variable relate to low scores in the second variable (Creswell, 2 !%" 6onlinear relationships, or curvilinear relationships, are characteri'ed by a B-shape relationship between variables" This means that the direction of the relationship between the variables differs according to different levels of the variable (2odico et al", 2 3%" - curvilinear relationship might occur if a researcher were to study the relationship between the amount of extracurricular activities in which students participate and student,s grades because, while it is important for a student to be involved in activities, being involved in too many activities as well as being

involved in too few extra-curricular activities might be detrimental to a student,s grades" 0ee (igure 7 to view an example of the different types of relationships" The third form of association that a scatterplot can display is an uncorrelated relationship" This distribution occurs when two variables are not related to one another and are instead independent of each other" Thus, an individual,s score on one variable does not tell anything about what the other variable,s score might be (Creswell, 2 !%" (igure 7
7
9

6 7

5
7

5
6

4 3 3 3 2 2 2

2
2

1
1

0 0 2 4

0 0 2 4 6 8

0 0 2 4 6 8

0 10 0 1 2 3 4 5

)ositive 2inear

6egative 2inear

6o Correlation

Curvilinear

Curvilinear

5f a relationship is linear, a correlation coefficient is useful as it describes and measures the degree and strength of a relationship between two variables" Correlational coefficients can range from -7" to C7" with positive numbers used to identify a positive relationship and negative numbers being used to identify a negative relationship" 6o linear association is indicated with a correlation coefficient of " " Thus, the closer a correlation coefficient is to " , the wea+er is the relationship between variables (Creswell, 2 !%" The following table can be used to determine the strength of a relationship when a correlation coefficient is provided" Correlation Coefficient D": -7" D"# -"3= D" -"2= Strength of Relationship 0trong 4oderate 6one (" % to wea+

(or further information regarding correlation coefficients see (the 0tatistics portion of site%"5f correlation coefficients are not provided for some reason, an individual can typically get an idea of the strength of a linear relationship by loo+ing at the spread of data points in the scatterplot" (or instance, a stronger relationship typically exist when data points are grouped along in a more narrow pattern1 whereas, a scatterplot in which data points are scattered inconsistently in the graph is indicative of a wea+er relationship (2odico, et al", 2 3%" 5n published research articles, correlation coefficients are often displayed in a table called a correlation matrix (Creswell, 2 !%. - correlation matrix presents all of the possible correlations between the variables included in a study" The following is an example of a correlation matrix*

!ample of Correlation "atri! # 7" 7" Time 0pent on @omewor+ $ % & ' (

"$! 2" 5T>0 600 #" F)8" 5nvolvement in .xtracurricular -ctivities $" .mployment 3" 0ocioeconomic 0tatus E "2= E "2 7 "# # 2 $ 3

7" "7 "8 "2 $ " 3 "$$ "# 8 "#2 "27 7" 7" 7" "8 7"

- "33 - " #

There are several things research consumers should note when attempting to glean information from a correlation matrix" (irst, each variable is displayed across the left-hand side of the matrix, as well as across the top of the matrix, usually included across the top represented by the number to which they have been assigned" .ach variable has a correlation coefficient of C7" with itself" Gn many correlation matrices the correlation coefficient for a variable and itself is often left out of the table for this reason" @alf of correlation matrices are left empty as the empty part would include correlations identical to those presented in the bottom-half of the matrix" -steris+s beside correlation coefficients listed in a correlation matrix indicate that the correlation between two variables is statistically significant (lin+ to statistics explanation of statistical significance% (0lavin, 2 :%" Conducting a Correlational Study - correlational research design is useful to researchers who are interested in determining to what degree two variables are related, however, correlational research does not prove a relationship1 rather, it indicates an association between two or more variables (Creswell, 2 !%" &hen a correlational research design is appropriate for a study, it can be designed by following the steps outlined by Creswell (2 !% and 2odico et al" (2 3%* Identify two variables that may be related- researchers often select variables to study with a correlational research design by reading published studies previously conducted by researchers" Gther individuals tend to select variables from real-world situations as they are interested in findings that are specific to their own situation" &hen selecting variables for correlational studies, researchers should avoid the shotgun approach" The shotgun approach occurs when researchers select every and any variable they can thin+ to include" This approach is discouraged for correlational studies as the greater the amount of relationships a researcher attempts to examine with correlational research, the more li+ely the researcher is to determine that at least one relationship is statistically significant when, in fact, the significance was only due to chance" 5n fact, if a significance level of " $ is used, then $ times out of 7 , one may get a significant correlation due to chance (2odico et al", 2 3, p" 2##%" This is especially problematic as there is no way for a researcher to determine which correlations are due to chance and which represent a true relationship between variables"

Select a sample-0amples should be selected randomly and include at least # individuals willing to parta+e in the study" Bsing a greater number of participants allows researchers to generali'e findings to the population of interest" /esearchers should also select a heterogeneous sample that allow for a range of scores" Hariability in scores allows researchers using correlational methods to determine whether patterns of data exist" Correlational studies in which a homogenous sample is used and produces a limited range of scores is describes as having a restriction of range" &ide ranges of scores are necessary as they allow researchers to determine the true relationship between variables" Select a method of measurement-Gften the most complex part of a correlational study is determining how to effectively measure each variable" -s with other research designs, tools should be determined to be both valid and reliable" (lin+ to validity and reliability portion of site% Bsually in correlational research two measurement tools are reIuired as each tool measures one of the two variables involved in the study" Collect necessary data-Correlational studies reIuire that researchers obtain data for each variable from each participant" (or instance, if an individual wanted to investigate the relationship between the length of an intervention and the success of an intervention, for each student who participates in the study researchers would need to collect data regarding both the length of the intervention implemented for the student and the success of the intervention" Collecting data can be especially difficult for researchers conducting prediction correlational studies as prediction studies reIuire data collection at more than one point in time" 5n such cases, researchers often assign numbers to participants to ensure that data remains confidential while the researcher is waiting to collect data for the criterion variable" Analyze the data-;ata from correlational research is analy'ed by using statistical tests that depend greatly on the type of variables being studied" Hariables can be either continuous, meaning that they change according to small increments (e"g" test scores%, or dichotomous, in which the variable is divided into categories (e"g" gender, grade%" Interpret results-&hen attempting to interpret results, researchers consider both the strength and the si'e of the correlation coefficient" Gften researchers present findings of correlational research in a correlational matrix in which each variable is numbered in a table to show correlations between variables" -steris+s are often used to indicate correlations that are statistically significant" 0tatistical significance for correlational research indicates that the probability that the obtained correlation between two variables is due to chance is less than " $ or " 7 (depending on which cutoff a researcher has selected%" - lac+ of statistical significance between two variables means that any relationship between the variables could be due to chance" @owever, it is important to note that statistical significance is li+ely to occur if a large sample is used by researchers regardless of whether a true relationship exist between two variables" &hen ma+ing predictions for individuals, a strong or very strong correlation is typically necessary" 0tatistical significance indicates an association between two variables not causation"

/eferences Charles, C" J 4ertler, C" (2 >acon" Creswell, 9" (2 !%" Educational research! "lanning, conducting, and evaluating 2%" Introduction to Educational esearch" >oston* 4-* -llyn J

#uantitative and #ualitative research. 6ew 9ersey* )earson* 4errill )rentice @all" 2odico, 4", 0paulding, ;", J Hoegtle, <" (2 3%" $ethods in educational research!

%rom theory to practice. 0an (rancisco* 9ossey->ass" 0lavin, /" (2 :%" Educational research in an age of accountability" >oston* )earson

.ducation"