So, you are a student of psychology who is about to start working on your dissertation. Then you must know the complete list of research designs you can use in your PhD thesis. Well, it is very good to know about many research designs. It is also sad to hear that you have no idea about the correlational research design. But you do not need to worry because, in today’s article, I will only talk about this particular research design. I will talk about its importance and uses from a research perspective. But first of all, let’s take the flight of explaining this design’s uses after defining it.
What Does It Mean By Correlational Research Study?
Correlational research, as the name suggests, is about establishing the relationships between two or more variables. The variables can be in the same population, or they can be the same variables in different populations. This research design is non-experimental. It means that:
- The researcher does not have to perform any kind of experiment
- The investigator cannot manipulate or control any of the variables
Now, depending on the results, the correlations can be of three types. It can be a positive, negative, or zero correlation. Now, you must be giving yourself a tough time by thinking about these types. Let’s put your mind at ease because a brief description of these possible outcomes of a correlational research design is as follows:
Positive Correlation:
In this study, the outcomes say that both variables increase or decrease simultaneously. If one variable increases, the other also increases, and the same goes in the case of decrement. For example, if height increases, the weight also increases.
Negative Correlation:
This correlation is a kind of indirect relationship between variables. In this kind of outcome, one variable increases while the other decreases. For example, tiredness decreases as coffee consumption increases in the office.
Zero Correlation:
The definition of this correlation must be clear from its name. The zero correlation means there is no correlation between the variables. For example, soda consumption is not related to height.
Why Conducting A Correlational Research Study Is Important?
From the discussion above, you know what correlational research design is and have also learned about its possible outcomes. Now, in this section, let’s talk about why this design is so important. Below are some points that highlight its importance in detail:
Uncovers The Relationships Between Variables
The correlational research design is important because it uncovers the relationship between many variables. Many research studies need causation to establish a correlation between the variables. But this is not the case with correlational research. Most of the time, the investigator develops a relationship between the variables that do not have a causal relationship. Hence, it is important to uncover the hidden relationships. Many dissertation writing services are available to provide help in this regard.
Look Back And Reveal The Correlation Between Variables
The investigator in this research design sometimes looks back. It means that he uses the previously published to unearth the hidden facts. Most of the time, correlations exist, but we do not know about them. To explore those correlations, the researcher looks, and it is important he uses this research design. As you do not need to perform any experiment in this research. All you have to do is play with the variables and use some techniques to correlate them. Therefore, it is important to use it when studying the old data.
An Important Study For Hypothesis Testing
Sometimes the researchers need to test their hypothesis. They have the idea in mind but do not have any idea about its results. Therefore, it is important to use a correlational research design there. It can test your hypothesis variables and let you know about their correlation with each other. It is also important if it does not give any promising results. If correlational research cannot prove a hypothesis, it can possibly rule out one.
What Are The Uses Of Correlational Research Design?
There are not many uses of this research design, except for the development of correlations between different variables. However, there are some of its uses based on its outcomes. A brief description of those is as follows:
Predicting The Future Based On The Study
Very few researchers know the use of correlational research design as a future predictor. When you analyse the data, you get some outcomes, i.e., correlations. Those correlations uncover the hidden meanings and patterns in your data. Once you have identified the patterns, the future prediction is easy. Hence, this research design can forecast events using previous or current knowledge.
Determining The Strength Of The Relationship Between Variables
One thing is clear that you find the relationship between the variables using this research design. Now, the use of this is that you can also determine the strength of the found relationship. You can classify the relationship as either positive or negative. This use of correlational research creates new research opportunities. Let’s say the obtained correlation is a negative one. Maybe, in the future, another researcher can prove it positive. Hence, this is the greatest use of this research design.
The Results Of This Research Study Are More Applicable
The correlational research results are more applicable as they are obtained from real-life scenarios. Unlike the experiments, in which the researchers can manipulate the data, no one can do the same here. It is because this study is non-experimental. There is no need for extrapolation or interpolation of the variables. It is why the results of this study are more applicable, which also makes it suitable to use in psychology.
Conclusion
Most correlational studies are found in the subject of psychology. It is because of its non-experimental but observatory nature. Correlational research design is very useful as it has the ability to reveal hidden patterns in the data. Also, the variables are not under the control of the researcher. All these things, along with the ones mentioned above, make this research design very useful.
