Author Question: Which of the following is a serious shortcoming of the correlational approach? a. It is difficult ... (Read 77 times)

jwb375 · **on:** Jun 22, 2018

Which of the following is a serious shortcoming of the correlational approach?

a. It is difficult for social psychologists to secure a random sample.
b. Causal inferences based on correlational data are often faulty.
c. There is always some third variable that accounts for the correlation.
d. Surveys are often poorly designed, leading to erroneous conclusions.

Question 2

Researchers Baron and Straus (1984) found a positive correlation between the number of sexually explicit magazines sold in different states and the number of reported rapes in each of those states.

They refrained from concluding that exposure to pornography caused men to rape because of the potential influence of a third variable. Which of the following might constitute that third variable?

a. sales of explicit magazines in those states
b. number of reported rapes in those states
c. exposure to pornography in those states
d. a hypermasculine culture in those states