Correlational Research
Correlational research entails the study of the relationship that exists between organismic as opposed to reatement variables in experimental research. The research is attributed to Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) who was attracted by the studies of variations by Charles Darwin (Goodwin, 2009, p.327). He was particularly concerned with the intelligence trait in individuals and ruled out the possible effects of environment and affirmed that genius was a factor to be inherited (Goodwin, 2009, p.327).
A correlation is said to exist between two variables if a change in one variable reflect on the other variable in some trend (Goodwin, 2009, 329). The correlation can be positive or negative.
Positive correlation is also referred to as direct correlation. It occurs when a high score recorded in one variable corresponds to a high score on the other variable and vice versa (Goodwin, 2009, p.329).
Negative correlation is an inverse relationship whereby high scores in one variable are associated with low scores in the other variable (Goodwin, 2009, p.327). As the value of the independent variable increase, the value of the other decreases and vice versa.
There is also the strengths of the relationship that is registered between the variables. A measure referred to as correlational coefficient ‘r’, is used to denote the strength/degree of correlation. A perfect positive correlation will have a correlation coefficient of +1 while a perfect negative correlation will have a value of -1. All the other measures of correlation will be given within the bracket (-1<=r<=1) so that r=0.3 implies a weak positive correlation and r=-0.2 implies weak negative correlation.
Use of Correlational Research
The relationship that is developed from a correlational research can be used to predict the variables in the future depending on the amount of correlation that has been witnessed. The higher the correlation (negative or positive), the more accurate it is to predict the future variables using this relationship model. A psychologist, for instance, can use the relationship that is observed to predict the future behavior of an individual (Goodwin, 2009, p.325).
Advantages of Correlational Research
The correlational research allows psychologist to derive an answer to the questions that could not be solved by experimental methods as it involves the study of the variables as they are in the natural setting (Weiten, 2008, p.54). The researcher is not able to manipulate the variables.
The techniques involved in the descriptive research are also easy and provided a visual impression that is easy to interpret.
Disadvantages of Correlational Research
One of the challenges of using correlational research is that the validity of the conclusions reached may be threatened as other factors could be behind the relationship. It does not provide all the necessary and sufficient conditions that explain the occurrence of an event. Instead, it simply asserts that ‘changes in the value of one variable are accompanied by predictable changes in a second variable’ (Goodwin, 2009, p.329). For instance, there could be a high degree of relationship between the behavior of a pupil and the performance in class. This does not explicitly provide a cause-effect relationship. The prediction of the performance based only on the behavior score ignores other factors like the study styles that could have been adopted by the instructors. This, therefore, does not provide a valid conclusion
Besides, a research will be redundant and not useful if no significant amount of correlation is obtained.
Reference
Goodwin, J. (2009). Research in Psychology: Methods and Design. 6th ed. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons
Weiten, W. (2008). Psychology: Themes and Variations. 8th ed. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.