Discuss correlational research. In your discussion, include an ...

[khang]

Discuss correlational research. In your discussion, include an explanation of why correlational research is sometimes preferred over experimental research. Then, explain what the value of a correlation means.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Discuss the role played by theory in social research.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[vseab]

Answer to Question 1

Answer:
Answers should include the following points:
1) an advantage of correlational research is that some research questions cannot or should not be addressed by experimental methods for practical or ethical reasons
2) correlational research identifies relationships or associations between variables but cannot be used to infer causal relationships
3) correlations can be useful for making predictions about one variable based on what is known about a different variable
4) correlations can range from - 1.0 to + 1.0
5) values closer to + or - 1.0 indicate stronger relationships while values closer to 0 indicate weak or nonexistent relationships
6) negative values indicate inverse relationships while positive values indicate direct relationships

Answer to Question 2

Answer:
Answers should address the following points:
1) a theory consists of basic concepts and the relationships between basic concepts;
2) it provides a framework to help organize and explain observations;
3) it points to possible additional relationships that can be stated as testable hypotheses (predictions);
4) tests of the hypotheses will either provide additional support for the theory or indicate that the theory needs to be modified (or possibly discarded);
5) a theory can never be proven to be correct because it can always be tested further;
6) a theory can be shown to be incorrect  this is a basic hallmark of scientific methods.