SOC 104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Santa Barbara City College, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, Falsifiability
Document Summary
Correlational research: the purpose of correlational research is to identify and test hypotheses about the relationships between two or more variables. The association, in the simplest case, is between only two variables, such as that between similarity and like, or between gender (male versus female) and support. The theoretical hypothesis, in a correlational method, is that there is an interaction (i. e. , a correlation) between the measured variables. A statistical equation known as the pearson correlation coefficient (symbolized by letter r) is usually used to describe the association or correlation between two variables. The correlation coefficient will range from 1 (indicating a very strong negative relationship between variables) to + 1 (indicating a very strong positive relationship between variables). And correlational study designs also have the advantage of prediction allowance. When two or more variables are associated, we can use our knowledge of a person"s performance on one of the variables to predict their likely score on another variable.
