{"id":11556,"date":"2018-12-18T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T20:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=11556"},"modified":"2018-12-18T05:30:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T20:30:09","slug":"correlational-studies-on-culture-and-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2018\/12\/18\/correlational-studies-on-culture-and-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Correlational studies on culture and behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

One common method used to study the effects of culture on behaviour is the correlational study. This method involves measuring the strength of a relationship between two or more co-variables. In correlational studies on the effects of culture on behaviour, one variable is related to culture (e.g. cultural dimensions) and the other is related to behaviour (e.g. conformity, mate preference or helping others). The results might show a positive correlation (which means as one variable increases, so does the other) or a negative correlation (as one variable increases, the other decreases).<\/p>\n

Unlike experimental studies that investigate the effects of an independent variable on a dependent variable, a correlational study doesn’t have IVs and DVs because we don’t know the direction of the relationship. There are also not enough controls put in place, so effects of extraneous variables aren’t controlled and may be influencing the relationship. This is a major limitation that will be explained later.<\/p>\n

\"Strong--weak--no-correlation\"

When using continuous data (e.g. scores on a cultural dimension and rates of helping), one variable can be plotted along the y axis and the other along the x axis. Image 1 shows a strong correlation, 2 shows a weak correlation and 3 shows no correlation. A correlation coefficient of >06. is considered high, around 0.4 is moderate and about 0.2 is weak.<\/p><\/div>\n

How are correlational studies conducted?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Correlational studies on culture and behaviour must first gather data on the co-variables in the study. In psychological studies one co-variable is nearly always a measure of behaviour or cognitive process. Cultural factors studied in correlational studies are often related to cultural dimensions. For example, a culture’s score on the individualism\/collectivism scale could be a co-variable. Questionnaires are commonly used to gather the data needed to calculate the correlation.<\/p>\n

Why are correlational studies conducted?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One major reason correlation studies are conducted is because they allow researchers to study variables that are naturally occuring in large populations. However, unlike natural or quasi-experiments, there is no identifiable “treatment” because either there are too many possible extraneous variables and\/or the variable is an innate personal quality (like cultural background) and so this isn’t considered an independent variable. We can also conduct correlational studies to see if a relationship does exist, and from these findings experimental studies can then be designed to explore the relationship further.<\/p>\n

What are some examples?<\/strong><\/p>\n