11Introduction to Research in Social and Behavioral Sciences
said to be linear. Not all correlational studies yield linear relationships. Special
statistical procedures are used to evaluate nonlinear relationships.
Correlational studies have the advantage of simplicity of design. One needs
only to identify the variables of interest and conduct the analysis. Another
advantage is versatility. A correlational design may serve as a starting point in
analyzing complex relationships for differences among variables. In addition,
interpretation of results is fairly straightforward. Correlation studies allow
researchers to determine the extent of agreement between and among variables
(strong, moderate, weak) and the direction of agreement (positive or ...