Psychology Question
discussion Part I: What does it mean that correlation does NOT equal causation? What are alternative explanations for correlations other than causation?
Part II: What does it mean when a correlation is significant? Why is this important if significance does NOT mean that it is meaningful?
Assignment
Open the dataset to answer the following prompts. Be sure to complete each portion of the prompts and be thorough in your descriptions. Organize your assignment so it is easy to follow and write in complete sentences; use APA style where directed. There are two parts to this assignment.
- SPSS:
survey.sav
- Jamovi:
survey.omv
Part I:
- Using the “survey” dataset, conduct a Pearson’s correlation analysis of the following question:
- Is there a significant linear relationship between total optimism (Dataset variable: “toptim”) and total perceived stress (Dataset variable: “tpstress”) in members of the general public?
- In APA style, report r, n, and p-value.
- Include a graph displaying the results.
- Interpret the results. In your interpretation, state if the null hypothesis can be rejected (you don’t typically say this in a results section, but it is good practice for understanding hypothesis testing).
APA format and interpretation example: A Pearson's correlation was used to examine the relationship between high school graduate rate and median earning of male full time workers. Results demonstrated a moderate, statistically significant positive correlation between the variables (r = .41, p = .03). These results suggest that increases in high school graduate rate is significantly associated with increases in median earning of male full-time workers (Figure 1).
Part II:
- Using the “survey” dataset, conduct a Pearson’s correlation analysis the following question:
- Is there a linear relationship between total optimism (Dataset variable: “toptim”) and total social desirability (Dataset variable: “tmarlow”) in members of the general public?
- In APA style, report r, n, and p-value.
- Include a graph displaying the results.
- Interpret the results. In your interpretation, state if the null hypothesis can be rejected (you don’t typically say this in a results section, but it is good practice for understanding hypothesis testing).
Use peer-reviewed journals, scholarly source (NOT the course textbook) for the information you are paraphrasing and citing