Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Design
Sarah Sinks
Quantitative Research:
Systematic scientific investigation of data
and their relationships.
Correlational Research
To find if the data has an observable
relationship that can be further specified
in terms of magnitude and/or an increase
or decrease.
Characteristics of Correlational
Research
Correlation indicates the strength and
direction of a linear relationship between
variables.
These relationships
may show any
tendency for the
variables to vary
consistently.
Pearsons product
moment coefficient
correlation: -1.0 to
+1.0
Ex post facto
from what is done afterwards
Disadvantages
Lack of control for
independent variable and
randomizing subjects.
Never certain if causative
factor has been included
or identified
Relationship between two
factors does not est.
cause and effect.
May be regarded as too
flexible.
Experimental
Research in which the investigator
deliberately controls and manipulates the
independent variable to observe the effect
of that change on another the dependent
variable.
Useful Terms
Correlation- Indicates the strength and direction
of a linear relationship between two random
variables.
Ex post facto- from the Latin for "from
something done afterward"
Quasi- the prefix 'quasi' denotes methods that
are "almost" or "socially approximate"
Variable- a measurable factor, characteristic, or
attribute of an individual or a system
References
Research Methods in Education 5 th
Edition, Louis Cohen, Lawrence, Manion
and Keith Morrison 2004, New York
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page,
4/10/2007