Example of Correlational Limitation: Smoking and Cancer
Because correlational research cannot establish cause and effect, researchers would be overstepping their bounds if they concluded that smoking causes cancer based solely on correlational data. This limitation can be frustrating when a cause-and-effect relationship seems clear and intuitive, such as the early demonstrations of the link between smoking and cancer by the American Cancer Society.
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A researcher conducts a study and finds a strong positive statistical relationship between children's shoe size and their vocabulary size. As shoe size increases, vocabulary size also tends to increase. Based on this result, what is the most valid conclusion the researcher can make?
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Example of Correlational Limitation: Smoking and Cancer
Directionality Problem
Third-Variable Problem
Which of the following describes the primary limitation of correlational research?