Concept

Correlational Research as Converging Evidence

Because of the trade-off between internal and external validity, correlational research is highly valuable for providing converging evidence for a scientific theory. When a theory is supported by both a true experiment (which offers high internal validity to confirm causality) and a correlational study (which offers high external validity to confirm real-world relevance), researchers can have much greater confidence in the theory. For instance, correlational studies linking violent television to aggressive behavior are strongly complemented by experimental studies that confirm the relationship is causal.

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Updated 2026-05-03

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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