PSYC1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Operational Definition, Thomson To7, Dependent And Independent Variables
Document Summary
Correlational research: no attempt to manipulate or control variables, measures 2 or more variables as they exist naturally, goal is to establish whether a relationship exists between the variables & describe the nature of that relationship. Testing correlation: correlation can be tested statistically using statistical tests such as pearson"s correlation. Coefficient: pearson"s is a measure of the correlation between 2 variables (how much they co-vary, pearson"s "draw a line" through your data points that best fits the data (line of best fit, pearson"s test indicates. Round to 2 decimal places: same with p-value. A p-value at 0. 000 should be written as p < 0. 001. A third variable leads to a relationship between two other variables. I. e. larger population size = more churches + more gun crime but +churches =/= The direction of relationship between 2 correlated variables is not known. Cannot determine whether one causes the other: selection bias.
