Ice cream sales and crime rates are both related to the weather (summer).

It allows you to critically evaluate claims and evidence presented in the media or by others.

Advertisers might imply causation when only a correlation exists, leading consumers to believe a product causes a desired outcome.

Researchers can identify and control for potential confounders to get more accurate results.

Randomly assign students to different teaching methods and measure their performance to determine if the new method causes improvement.

Collect data on exercise habits and mental health scores to see if there is a relationship, but be cautious about inferring causation.

Observe and record how customers interact with products and navigate the store to understand their behavior.

Assess whether the poll's results can be generalized to the entire population and whether the questions accurately measure the intended opinions.

Manipulate the amount of caffeine (independent variable) and measure alertness levels (dependent variable) to see if there is a causal effect.

It allows you to choose the most appropriate method for answering a specific research question and to interpret the results accurately.

How well can research findings be generalized to other people, places, and situations?

How sure are you that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable?

An outside factor that influences both the independent and dependent variables.

A statistical measure that expresses the extent to which two variables are linearly related.

The relationship between cause and effect.

Research that observes and records behavior.

Research that detects naturally occurring relationships.

Research that explores cause and effect by manipulating variables.

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.

The variable that is measured in an experiment.

Descriptive research observes, correlational research finds relationships, and experimental research manipulates variables to find cause-and-effect.

Internal validity is about whether the IV caused the DV change; external validity is about generalizability to the real world.

Experimental research can determine cause and effect, while correlational research can work with large datasets and is useful when experiments are unethical.

Experimental research may not generalize and can raise ethical concerns, while correlational research cannot determine cause and effect.

Case studies involve an in-depth look at one person, while naturalistic observations study real-world behavior.

Surveys are used to collect data on attitudes and opinions, while experiments are used to test cause-and-effect relationships.

The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher, while the dependent variable is measured to see if it is affected by the independent variable.

Correlational studies aim to identify relationships between variables, while experiments aim to determine if one variable causes changes in another.

Random assignment is used in experiments to assign participants to different groups, while random sampling is used to select participants from a population.

Controlling confounding variables is crucial in both types of research, but it is especially important in experimental research to establish a causal relationship.