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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.

Correlational Research as Converging Evidence

When providing converging evidence for a scientific theory, what specific advantage does a correlational study offer when paired with a true experiment?

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