How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education, 5/e

Jack R. Fraenkel, San Francisco State University
Norman E. Wallen, San Francisco State University

Correlational Research

Learning Objectives

Studying this chapter should enable you to:

Describe briefly what is meant by associational research.

State the two major purposes of correlational studies.

Distinguish between predictor and criterion variables.

Explain the role of correlational studies in exploring causation.

Explain how a scatterplot can be used to predict an outcome.

Describe what is meant by a prediction equation.

Explain briefly the main ideas underlying multiple correlation factor analysis, and path analysis.

Identify and describe briefly the steps involved in conducting a correlational study.

Interpret correlation coefficients of different magnitude.

Explain the rationale underlying partial correlation.

Describe some of the threats to internal validity that exist in correlation studies and explain how to identify them.

Discuss how to control for these threats.

Recognize a correlation study when you come across one in the educational research.

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