{"id":58016,"date":"2018-06-06T23:34:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T06:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/?p=58016"},"modified":"2025-05-27T10:58:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T17:58:35","slug":"correlational-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/correlational-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Correlational Research: What It Is with Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our minds can do some brilliant things. For example, it can memorize the jingle of a pizza truck. The louder the jingle, the closer the pizza truck is to us. Who taught us that? Nobody! We relied on our understanding and came to a conclusion. We don’t stop there, do we? If there are multiple pizza trucks in the area and each one has a different jingle, we would memorize it all and relate the jingle to its pizza truck.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what correlational research precisely is, establishing a relationship between two variables, “jingle” and “distance of the truck” in this particular example. The correlational study looks for variables that seem to interact with each other. When you see one variable changing, you have a fair idea of how the other variable will change.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

What is Correlational research?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Correlational research is a type of non-experimental research<\/a> method in which a researcher measures two variables and understands and assesses the statistical relationship between them with no influence from any extraneous variable.<\/span> In statistical analysis, distinguishing between categorical data and numerical data<\/a> is essential, as categorical data involves distinct categories or labels, while numerical data consists of measurable quantities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correlational Research Example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The correlation coefficient shows the correlation between two variables (A correlation coefficient is a statistical measure that calculates the strength of the relationship between two variables), a value measured between -1 and +1. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the correlation coefficient is close to +1, there is a positive correlation between the two variables. If the value is relative to -1, there is a negative correlation between the two variables. When the value is close to zero, then there is no relationship between the two variables.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us take an example to understand correlational research.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider hypothetically, a researcher is studying a correlation between cancer and marriage. In this study, there are two variables: disease and marriage. Let us say marriage has a negative association with cancer. This means that married people are less likely to develop cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that marriage directly avoids cancer. In correlational research, it is not possible to establish the fact, what causes what. It is a misconception that a correlational study involves two quantitative variables<\/strong>. However, the reality is two variables are measured, but neither is changed. This is true independent of whether the variables are quantitative or categorical.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of correlational research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mainly three types of correlational research<\/a> have been identified:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Positive correlation:<\/b> A positive relationship between two variables is when an increase in one variable leads to a rise in the other variable. A decrease in one variable will see a reduction in the other variable. For example, the amount of money a person has might positively correlate with the number of cars the person owns.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Negative correlation: <\/b>A negative correlation is quite literally the opposite of a positive relationship. If there is an increase in one variable, the second variable will show a decrease, and vice versa.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, being educated might negatively correlate with the crime rate when an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in another and vice versa. If a country’s education level is improved, it can lower crime rates. Please note that this doesn’t mean that lack of education leads to crimes. It only means that a lack of education and crime is believed to have a common reason – poverty.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. No correlation:<\/b> There is no correlation between the two variables in this third type. A change in one variable may not necessarily see a difference in the other variable. For example, being a millionaire and happiness are not correlated. An increase in money doesn’t lead to happiness.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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QuestionPro recently published a blog about correlation matrix<\/a>. Explore to learn about it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

Characteristics of correlational research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Correlational research has three main characteristics. They are: <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n