04:192:300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: External Validity, Internal Validity, Null Hypothesis

• School: Rutgers University
• Department: Communication
• Course: 04:192:300
• Professor: M E A R A Faw

Document Summary

In research, we are interested in understanding how different constructs are related to other constructs. Is tv viewing related to increases in violent behavior. Is participation in sports related to healthier lifestyle choices. Are people more likely to vote for candidates who are of the gender as. At minimum, we want the variables in our study to correlate with one another. Correlation does not imply a direction for the relationship. A and b are related to one another, but we don"t know whether a causes. When changes in one variable are associated with similar changes in another variable. When one variable goes down, the other goes down as well. When one variable goes up, the other goes up as well. Ex: student grades and course evaluations as student grades go down, their course evaluations go down. When changes in one variable are associated with opposite changes in another variable. When one variable decreases, the other increases.