What is the most important difference between the correlational and experimental methods?

Correlational vs Experimental Research
 

Psychological researches fall into two major types of methodologies namely correlational research and experimental research. Any student doing major in psychology needs to understand the differences between these two methodologies to be able to design his psychological study. There are clear cut differences between experimental and correlational research methods that will be highlighted in this article.

What is Correlational Research?

As the name implies, the researcher looks to establish relationships between two variables. He makes a premise that two variables may be related in some way and then measure the value of both under different circumstances to test his hypothesis if indeed there is a relation between the two variables. The next logical step is to check if this relationship has any statistical significance.

In correlational research, there is no attempt made by the researcher to influence the variables. The researcher merely records the values of the variables and then tries to establish some sort of relationship between the variables as when a researcher records values of blood pressure and cholesterol of many people in a bid to find out if there is any correlation between high blood pressure and cholesterol.

It has to be understood that correlational research does not try to establish cause and effect relationship between variables. The researcher does not manipulate variables, and he does not make any statement of cause and effect in any correlational research. So, though scientists have known for long that, in people with clinical depression, there have been found low levels of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine, they do not point to a causal relationship between depression and low levels of neurotransmitters.

What is Experimental Research?

Experimental research is what most people consider being more scientific though non experimental does not mean that the research is unscientific by any means. It is human nature to try to find out what happens when changes are introduced in variables. Thus, taking up the previous example of blood pressure and cholesterol, a research can deliberately increase the blood pressure of a subject and then record his cholesterol levels to see if there is any increase or decrease. If changes induced in a variable lead to changes in another variable, a researcher is in a position to say that there is a causal relationship between the two variables.

What is the difference between Correlational and Experimental Research?

• It is only experimental research that can establish a causal relationship between variables.

• In correlational research, there is no attempt made by the researcher to control or influence variables. He merely records the values of variables.

• Correlational research can establish a correlation between two variables without stating causal relationship. So, even though scientists know that in most cases of clinical depression people have been found with low levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and epinephrine, they do not make a causal relationship that low levels of neurotransmitters are responsible for depression in people.

Table of Contents

Nội dung chính

  • Why does the correlation method have to be used sometimes instead of experimental method?
  • What is the main difference between a correlational study and an experimental study?
  • What is the advantage of the experimental method instead of a correlational study?
  • What are the limitations of the correlational method compared to the experimental method?
  • Are correlational studies experimental?
  • What is the purpose of experimental research?
  • Post navigation
  • Introduction
  • Correlational Research
  • Experimental Research
  • The Main Difference between Correlational and Experimental Research
  • Conclusions
  • Works Cited
  • What is the advantage of the experimental method over the correlational method Why?
  • What is an advantage of experimental or correlational research?
  • What is the main advantage of the experimental method?
  • What is the most important difference between the correlational and experimental methods?

  • 1 Why does the correlation method have to be used sometimes instead of experimental method?
  • 2 What is the main difference between a correlational study and an experimental study?
  • 3 What is the advantage of the experimental method instead of a correlational study?
  • 4 What are the limitations of the correlational method compared to the experimental method?
  • 5 Are correlational studies experimental?
  • 6 What is the purpose of experimental research?

Why does the correlation method have to be used sometimes instead of experimental method?

The other reason that researchers would choose to use a correlational study rather than an experiment is that the statistical relationship of interest is thought to be causal, but the researcher cannot manipulate the independent variable because it is impossible, impractical, or unethical.

What is the main difference between a correlational study and an experimental study?

The major difference between correlational research and experimental research is methodology. In correlational research, the researcher looks for a statistical pattern linking 2 naturally-occurring variables while in experimental research, the researcher introduces a catalyst and monitors its effects on the variables.

What is the experimental method vs correlational method?

Correlational methodologies and experimental ones are the two approaches to doing research. Experimental studies allow the researcher to control the variables in the study, while correlational ones involve just looking at the data that already exists.

What is the purpose of correlational research?

Correlational vs experimental research

Correlational research
Purpose Used to test strength of association between variables
Variables Variables are only observed with no manipulation or intervention by researchers
Control Limited control is used, so other variables may play a role in the relationship

What is the advantage of the experimental method instead of a correlational study?

The major advantage of the experimental design is that of helping to establish cause and effect relationships. A disadvantage of this design is the difficulty of translating much of what concerns us about human behavior into a laboratory setting.

What are the limitations of the correlational method compared to the experimental method?

Correlational studies are used to show the relationship between two variables. Unlike experimental studies, however, correlational studies can only show that two variables are related—they cannot determine causation (which variable causes a change in the other).

Is correlational research experimental?

Correlational research is a type of non-experimental research in which the researcher measures two variables and assesses the statistical relationship (i.e., the correlation) between them with little or no effort to control extraneous variables.

What is the difference between correlational and experimental studies quizlet?

What is the main difference between an experiment and a correlational study? An experiment involves the manipulation of variables, while a correlational study does not. Manipulate the level of one variable, and observe its effect on another variable, while controlling other factors.

Are correlational studies experimental?

What is the purpose of experimental research?

What is the Purpose of Experimental Research? Experimental research seeks to determine a relationship between two (2) variables—the dependent variable and the independent variable.

Why do we use correlation?

Correlation is used to describe the linear relationship between two continuous variables (e.g., height and weight). In general, correlation tends to be used when there is no identified response variable. It measures the strength (qualitatively) and direction of the linear relationship between two or more variables.

What is the advantage of the experimental method quizlet?

What is the major advantage of the experimental method? It permits conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships between variables.

Post navigation

This paper defines correlational vs experimental research types and highlights the difference between correlational and experimental research designs. It includes advantages, disadvantages, and examples.

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Introduction

In psychology, there are two predominant types of research – correlational study vs experiment. Although they share certain similarities, it is very important to understand that these types of research are not the same thing. It is also important to be able to differentiate between the two, as the confusion might result in wrongful interpretations of research designs and their methods. The purpose of this paper is to give clear definitions of what correlational and experimental types of research are, compare them, and highlight the differences between experimental vs correlational study.

Correlational Research

Correlational research is highly widespread not only in psychology but also in other sciences. It helps measure the association between different variables without interfering with the process. In many ways, it is considered to be observational research, where scientists are taking into account all of the variables and try to figure out if there is a connection between them. Correlational research, in many cases, helps identify all of the possible variables before anything else could be done about them.

Correlations can be positive and negative. Positive correlations stand for positive associations between different variables – if one of them is increased, the other ones see an increase also (McLeod, “Correlation”). Negative correlations, on the other hand, work differently. Should one variable see a decrease while the other is being increased, it would then reveal a negative correlation. The discovery of low levels of neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and norepinephrine in patients diagnosed with clinical depression, can be considered an example of correlational research. While this research managed to identify and measure a variable, it did not necessarily establish a cause-effect relationship between clinical depression and low levels of serotonin and norepinephrine (McLeod, “Correlation”).

Correlational experiments are used for prediction, testing the validity and reliability of the results, and theory verification (predictive validity). They are good for testing naturally occurring variables. The results of correlations are typically easy to understand and illustrate in graphic form (McLeod, “Correlation”).

Experimental Research

This type of research is, perhaps, the most popular one in medicine, as the results of randomized control trials (which are experiments) are held in the highest regard by medical specialists and the evidence extracted via an experiment is considered top-tier, provided that the premise and the execution of the experiment lacked any flaws. Naturally, experimental research is popular in psychology, which is considered a field of medicine.

Experimental research isolates and manipulates certain variables in order to see how other variables are affected (McLeod, “Experimental Method”). Experimental research exists to establish cause-and-effect connections between them (McLeod, “Experimental Method”). That is why the experiment is very useful for testing out various hypotheses. During an experiment, the environment is strictly controlled in order to eliminate the effects of other independent variables, as that would obscure the picture. An example of the experimental method would be the Milgram Experiment, which tested the relationship between authority and obedience (McLeod, “Experimental Method”).

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There are several types of experiments, the most common ones being laboratory experiments, field experiments, and natural experiments. The strength of any experimental method typically lies in its high accuracy. However, the results of an experiment cannot be considered 100% accurate due to the fact that laboratory experiments have a chance of distorting naturally-occurring processes and variables, while natural and field experiments could have variables which were unaccounted for, thus producing bias and distorting the data and the conclusions based on said data (McLeod, “Experimental Method”).

The Main Difference between Correlational and Experimental Research

Aside from obvious differences in types of experimental and correlational researchers, as well as various small deviations one from another, the main difference between these two types of research is in the fact that correlation is not and cannot imply causation (“Difference”).

Even if there are very strong suggestions about certain variables being connected to others, under the scope of correlational research, we cannot make that conclusion. An experiment is the type of research to determine cause-and-effect, while correlational research can merely describe the relationship between the two variables. It cannot imply that one variable causes the other, as these variables are not isolated from the rest of the system, thus meaning that the cause-and-effect may be caused by a different variable that was not the scope of the study (“Difference”).

A correlational study could, sometimes, be the only way to study a naturally-occurring phenomenon, should an experiment be, under certain circumstances, impossible or unethical. For example, it would be unethical to conduct an experiment on lung cancer by asking the participants to smoke cigarettes (“Difference”).

Conclusions

Correlational studies focus on studying the variables in a mostly natural setting, identifying them, and establishing relationships between them. However, these relationships cannot imply that there is a cause-and-effect connection between either of these variables. Experiments single out certain independent variables and influence them to determine cause-and-effect between them and dependent variables. That is the main difference between correlational and experimental studies. Each has its uses, depending on the circumstances and the scope of every individual research.

Works Cited

“Difference between correlational and experimental research.” Difference Between. 2012. Web.

McLeod, Saul. “Correlation.” Simply Psychology, 2008. Web.

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—. “Experimental method.” Simply Psychology, 2012. Web.

What is the advantage of the experimental method over the correlational method Why?

Experimental studies allow the researcher to control the variables in the study, while correlational ones involve just looking at the data that already exists. Experimental studies allow the researcher to draw conclusions about one variable causing changes in another.

What is an advantage of experimental or correlational research?

Correlational research allows researchers to collect much more data than experiments. Another benefit of correlational research is that it opens up a great deal of further research to other scholars.

What is the main advantage of the experimental method?

Strength: It is easier to replicate (i.e. copy) a laboratory experiment. This is because a standardized procedure is used. Strength: They allow for precise control of extraneous and independent variables. This allows a cause and effect relationship to be established.

What is the most important difference between the correlational and experimental methods?

The major difference between correlational research and experimental research is methodology. In correlational research, the researcher looks for a statistical pattern linking 2 naturally-occurring variables while in experimental research, the researcher introduces a catalyst and monitors its effects on the variables.

What is the difference between correlational and experimental methods?

In an experimental design, you manipulate an independent variable and measure its effect on a dependent variable. Other variables are controlled so they can't impact the results. In a correlational design, you measure variables without manipulating any of them.

What is the difference between correlational and experimental studies quizlet?

Correlational is only looking for correlations between things that already happen, while experimental invloves a scientist manipulating one thing to see if it effect the other. Experimental is definitive while correlational is not.

What is one main difference between descriptive correlational and experimental methods?

Descriptive research is designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs. Correlational research is designed to discover relationships among variables. Experimental research is designed to assess cause and effect.