Purchase Solution

Explains correlation in detail

Not what you're looking for?

Ask Custom Question

What is correlation? What are the different types of correlation? Why is it important to determine correlation? If anxiety and depression are correlated, what three possible directions of causality might explain this correlation?

Purchase this Solution

Solution Preview

Hi,

Correlation is simply a measure of the relationship between two variables. You may find it easier to think of it as the way to that two variables change together. We can have one variable increase while the other decreases (for example, we may expect this if we're looking at the correlation between body temperature and time spent outside on a cold day). Or we can have two variables increase together (for example, age and years spent in school). It is important to note that correlation does not imply causation - just because we have a relationship between variables does not mean that the change in one caused the other to occur. Sometimes this may be tempting to conclude (e.g. with the example of body temperature and time outside), but such a conclusion would not be justified without an experimental manipulation.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by different 'types' of correlation, so I'm going to give you two answers for this part. You can pick the one that you meant.

1) We can have positive, negative, strong, and weak correlations. A positive correlation means that both variables increase together (see age and education example above). A negative correlation means that as one variable increases (e.g. time spent outside), the other decreases (e.g. body temperature). A ...

Purchase this Solution


Free BrainMass Quizzes
Key Psychology Theories and their Developers

Match which psychologist developed and/or contributed to which theory.

Perspectives of Psychology

A review of main theoretical perspectives and those most closely associated with them

Positive Psychology

A quiz related to the introductory concepts of positive psychology.

Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

Erik Erikson researched eight stages of psychosocial development beginning at birth and ending at death. This quiz challenges your knowledge of each stage, the corresponding age range, and the conflicts present during each stage.

Anxiety Disorders

This quiz is designed to help students gain a better understanding of various types of anxiety disorders.