Advantages and Disadvantages of Correlational Research
Correlational research has many advantages. It can study the associations of naturally occurring variables that cannot be manipulated or induced—such as ethnicity, age, and income. It can examine phenomena that would be difficult or unethical to create for research purposes, such as love, hate, and abuse. And it offers researchers a great deal of freedom in where variables are measured. Participants can be brought into a laboratory specially constructed for research purposes, or they can be approached in a real-world setting (often called “the field”), such as a shopping mall or airport.
Despite these advantages, however, correlational research has one very serious disadvantage. And here it is in bold letters: Correlation is not causation.
In other words, a correlation cannot demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship. Instead of revealing a specific causal pathway from one variable, A, to another variable, B, a correlation between variables A and B contains
Similarity is correlated with attraction—the more similar two people are (such as in their attitudes and personalities), the more attractive they are likely to find each other. But a correlation cannot identify the cause of this attraction.
