{"id":13852,"date":"2021-02-25T12:18:03","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T03:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=13852"},"modified":"2021-03-03T06:42:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T21:42:10","slug":"how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2021\/02\/25\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\/","title":{"rendered":"How to evaluate correlational studies&#8230;.PROPERLY!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_13866\" style=\"width: 229px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/store.themantic-education.com\/collections\/new-products\/products\/ib-psychology-a-students-guide-quantitative-methods-ebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13866\" class=\"wp-image-13866\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=219%2C283&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"219\" height=\"283\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?w=2461&amp;ssl=1 2461w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=232%2C300&amp;ssl=1 232w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=790%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 790w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=768%2C995&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=1185%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1185w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=1580%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1580w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=100%2C130&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=906%2C1174&amp;ssl=1 906w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?resize=1200%2C1555&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/eBook-C6-cover.png?w=2358&amp;ssl=1 2358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-13866\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Download the new eBook for quantitative research methods right <a href=\"https:\/\/store.themantic-education.com\/collections\/new-products\/products\/ib-psychology-a-students-guide-quantitative-methods-ebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;This study was correlational but correlation doesn&#8217;t mean causation.&#8221; If you think this is critical thinking, think again! Let&#8217;s look at three ways to PROPERLY evaluate correlational studies.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A correlational study is when researchers measure the strength of a relationship between co-variables by calculating a correlation coefficient.\u00a0 In order to show critical thinking you must give specific reasons\u00a0<em>why\u00a0<\/em>we can&#8217;t deduce a causal relationship.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2017\/04\/15\/so-you-want-to-assess-ecological-validity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">So you want to assess ecological validity?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2017\/11\/03\/so-you-want-to-assess-population-validity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">So you want to assess population validity?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2017\/08\/15\/lesson-idea-thinking-critically-about-correlations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lesson Idea: Thinking critically about correlations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">#1. Does B affect A?<\/h2>\n<div style=\"width: 334px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/5\/59\/SVG_double_arrow_with_marker-start_and_marker-end.svg\" alt=\"File:SVG double arrow with marker-start and marker-end.svg - Wikimedia Commons\" width=\"324\" height=\"81\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Can the relationship be LOGICALLY explained in either direction? If so, how? This is the best way for students to begin evaluating a correlational study.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In most correlational studies we make the immediate conclusion that variable A is affecting variable B. For example:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Time spent using technology is correlated (negatively) with working memory capacity in children (see <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.3758\/s13423-016-1036-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cain et al<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>Socioeconomic status is correlated with hippocampal development (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4001721\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luby et al<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>Stress is correlated with cardiovascular disease (e.g. hypertension, aka high blood pressure) (see <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/9175569\/#:~:text=Results%3A%20Individual%20stress%20perception%20was,age%20and%2For%20body%20weight.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Suter et al<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It&#8217;s logical to first conclude that variable A is affecting variable B. Most students then evaluate such a conclusion by saying &#8220;correlation doesn&#8217;t mean causation&#8221; and then move on to the next point.<\/p>\n<p>However, we can show correlation doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean causation by showing <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><strong>how<\/strong><\/em><\/span> variable B might logically be affecting variable A. . This is explained best when there&#8217;s supporting evidence. Let&#8217;s look at three examples of this using the above studies.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Children with low working memory capacity might be more drawn to technology and spend longer time on it instead of other activities. Why? Other non-tech activities like reading and puzzles or board games require strong working memory and if kids don&#8217;t have that they might not enjoy it as much as digital games that don&#8217;t require the same working memory capacity.<\/li>\n<li>Hippocampal development might be the reason for the lower socioeconomic status (SES). SES is measured through education levels, but if someone has a small hippocampus they might have learning troubles since it plays a role in memory, so they have reduced chance of going further in higher education. This could also affect job prospects as well, all contributing to the link between SES and hippocampal development.<\/li>\n<li>Cardiovascular disease could be affecting stress levels. It&#8217;s stressful having to deal with things like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and the risk of heart attacks associated with CVD. Therefore, it might be the high blood pressure that&#8217;s causing the stress, not the other way around.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Notice how the above explanations begin by stating the relationship in the opposite direction but go further to give a (hopefully) logical explanation as to why the relationship could be explained in both directions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><div  class=\"x-video embed with-container\" ><div class=\"x-video-inner\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D40MubVRGpw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">#2. What&#8217;s the Correlation Coefficient?<\/h2>\n<p>Students (and even researchers) love to overstate the significance of their findings. I am surprised at how many correlational studies are published despite having rather weak correlations. Remember that generally speaking, 0.2-0.4 is considered a weak correlation, 0.4-0.6 is moderate and above 0.6 is very strong. Therefore, anything around the &#8220;weak&#8221; margin should be pointed out. This is an easy way to show you understand the nature of the correlational findings and that conclusions need to be tentative.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_13853\" style=\"width: 333px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13853\" class=\"wp-image-13853\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/phd051809s-1.gif?resize=323%2C359&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"323\" height=\"359\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-13853\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">From PHDComics. <a href=\"http:\/\/phdcomics.com\/comics\/archive.php?comicid=1174\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Original source<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Here are some examples from studies used in my course and resources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Karl et al.&#8217;s correlational study between hippocampus and PTSD (-0.28) and this was the strongest correlation found in the study (amygdala and PFC studies were also analyzed).*<\/li>\n<li>Cain et al.&#8217;s study on working memory capacity and technology use. Moderate but statistically significant negative correlation between working memory capacity and media usage \u2022 -0.27 for digit span tasks and -0.38 for n-back tasks.<\/li>\n<li>Hitchcock appraisals and PTSD symptoms: There was a moderate but statistically significant correlation between negative appraisals and PTSD symptom severity after six months (0.31).<\/li>\n<li>Moore et al. serotonin and antisocial behaviour. There was a significant negative correlation between serotonin levels and antisocial behaviour (Effect size -0.45.)<\/li>\n<li>Suter et al.&#8217;s correlational study on blood pressure and stress levels was a measly -0.12.!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>*Technically this isn&#8217;t a correlation coefficient it&#8217;s an effect size since this was a meta-analysis. Whereas a correlation coefficient shows the strength of a relationship, an effect size shows the strength of one variable&#8217;s affect on another.<\/p>\n<p>This is why remembering the specific correlational coefficient reported in a study is important. It helps you both show detailed knowledge of the study and gives you something to evaluate.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Wherever possible I try to include specific correlational coefficients in the summaries of studies in my books, flashcards, blog posts, etc.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">#3: Is there a third <del>wheel<\/del> variable?<\/h2>\n<p>There might be a third variable (C) that affects the relationship between B and A or explains why the two are correlated. Variable C could be a <strong>moderating<\/strong> or <strong>mediating<\/strong> variable.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Moderating variable: <\/strong>A moderating variable affects the strength of the relationship between A and B.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mediating variable: <\/strong>A mediating variable explains why the relationship between A and B exists in the first place.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is difficult and requires careful critical thinking. Let&#8217;s look at the three examples stated above.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Technology and working memory: <\/strong>Time spent using technology is correlated (negatively) with working memory capacity in children. Perhaps parental support is a moderating variable. Parents who spend lots of time playing with their kids (e.g. reading and playing games) could have kids with less time spent on technology and the non-tech games played with parents and kids influences working memory. Alternatively, a kid might spend more time with technology if their parents are busy and this lack of support might contribute to poor working memory.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Poverty and brain development: <\/strong>Stress could be a third variable here that&#8217;s important to consider. Stress can affect hippocampal development as shown in animal experiments and it can also be increased by poverty (i.e. poverty causes stress). This can also affect parent-child relationships &#8211; poorer parents have more stress which negatively affects their interactions with their kids. In fact, this is exactly what Luby et al.&#8217;s study found out &#8211; stress and parenting were mediating variables in this relationship between SES and hippocampal development. This means they explain why poverty affects hippocampal development.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stress and blood pressure: <\/strong>Stress is correlated with cardiovascular disease (e.g. hypertension, aka high blood pressure) (see <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/9175569\/#:~:text=Results%3A%20Individual%20stress%20perception%20was,age%20and%2For%20body%20weight.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Suter et al<\/a>.). Social support (e.g. having friends) could moderate this relationship. Stressors could be more sever and cause higher stress if someone doesn&#8217;t have social support and this increases blood pressure further. One reason for this is because social support is an important coping resource. If someone has social support they might feel like they have more resources to cope with a stressor, so it causes less stress and has less impact on blood pressure.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4001721\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4001721\/bin\/nihms-550037-f0001.jpg?resize=786%2C336&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.Object name is nihms-550037-f0001.jpg\" width=\"786\" height=\"336\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4001721\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Luby et al. 2013<\/a>: &#8220;Conceptual Model Testing Multiple Mediators of the Hypothesized Association between Income-to-needs and Variation in Brain Volume.&#8221;<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Lesson Idea<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>By far this third type of evaluation is the most difficult. It also runs the risk of some far out and hair-brained hypotheses. This is why it could be a good lesson idea when revising for exams &#8211; get students to find 2 or 3 key correlational studies they&#8217;re using and see if they can evaluate them using these three approaches. Have a teacher check their points to see how logical (or illogical) they are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This study was correlational but correlation doesn&#8217;t mean causation.&#8221; If you think this is critical thinking, think again! Let&#8217;s look at three ways to PROPERLY evaluate correlational studies. A correlational study is when researchers measure the strength of a relationship between co-variables by calculating a correlation coefficient.\u00a0 In order to show critical thinking you must give specific reasons\u00a0why\u00a0we can&#8217;t deduce &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2021\/02\/25\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-revision-and-exam-preparation","category-teaching-ideas"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to evaluate correlational studies....PROPERLY! | The IB Psychology Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understand how to properly evaluate correlational studies by considering multiple factors and correlation coefficients. Learn to think critically about the relationship between variables.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2021\/02\/25\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to evaluate correlational studies....PROPERLY! | The IB Psychology Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Understand how to properly evaluate correlational studies by considering multiple factors and correlation coefficients. Learn to think critically about the relationship between variables.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2021\/02\/25\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The IB Psychology Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/themanticeducation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-25T03:18:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T21:42:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2021\/02\/Pearson_Correlation_Coefficient_and_associated_scatterplots.png?fit=575%2C388&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"575\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"388\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Travis Dixon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Travis Dixon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Travis Dixon\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de20f76afd22df7d71e141ab515c0827\"},\"headline\":\"How to evaluate correlational studies&#8230;.PROPERLY!\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-25T03:18:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-02T21:42:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1292,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Pearson_Correlation_Coefficient_and_associated_scatterplots.png?fit=575%2C388&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Revision and Exam Preparation\",\"Teaching Ideas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to evaluate correlational studies....PROPERLY! | The IB Psychology Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/25\\\/how-to-evaluate-correlational-studies-properly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.themantic-education.com\\\/ibpsych\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Pearson_Correlation_Coefficient_and_associated_scatterplots.png?fit=575%2C388&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-25T03:18:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-02T21:42:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Understand how to properly evaluate correlational studies by considering multiple factors and correlation coefficients. 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This method involves measuring the strength of a relationship between two or more co-variables. 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But a big part of the IB Psychology course is helping them to understand the mantra:\u00a0correlation does not mean causation.\u00a0 This activity idea works\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Research Methodology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Research Methodology","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/category\/research-methodology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/correlation.png?fit=790%2C349&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/correlation.png?fit=790%2C349&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/correlation.png?fit=790%2C349&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/correlation.png?fit=790%2C349&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6624,"url":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2017\/08\/15\/lesson-idea-explaining-the-difference-between-causation-and-correlation\/","url_meta":{"origin":13852,"position":4},"title":"Lesson Idea: Explaining the difference between causation and correlation","author":"Travis Dixon","date":"08\/15\/2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This lesson works well with in the introductory unit, topic 1.2, lesson (d) \"correlation.\" The following TED Talk by Adam Grant is really interesting for a number of reasons and it's well worth a watch. I like to show students the short segment from 8:25 to 10:30 where he talks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Research Methodology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Research Methodology","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/category\/research-methodology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/browser-773215_960_720.png?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/browser-773215_960_720.png?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/browser-773215_960_720.png?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/08\/browser-773215_960_720.png?fit=720%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12406,"url":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2019\/11\/11\/how-to-evaluate-any-study-in-3-simple-steps\/","url_meta":{"origin":13852,"position":5},"title":"How to evaluate any study in 3 simple steps","author":"Travis Dixon","date":"11\/11\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Being able to critically evaluate a study is a key skill for any budding psychologist. However, like anything, when you're first learning how to do this it can be very difficult. In this post, we look at 3 simple steps you can take to evaluate any study. Read More 7\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Research Methodology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Research Methodology","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/category\/research-methodology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/11\/bigstock-Customer-Satisfaction-Happy-Fe-309368431.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/11\/bigstock-Customer-Satisfaction-Happy-Fe-309368431.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/11\/bigstock-Customer-Satisfaction-Happy-Fe-309368431.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/11\/bigstock-Customer-Satisfaction-Happy-Fe-309368431.jpg?fit=900%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13852"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13888,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13852\/revisions\/13888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}