Question

Given the prompt, what potential conclusions can be drawn? Identify the variables and determine whether you can draw casual conclusions or merely correlational outcomes. Provide your evidence.

Researchers who were interested in how hunger impacts helping behaviors observed 400 people who were approached by strangers asking for directions, measured how helpful they were and then asked the direction givers how hungry they were on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).

Answer 1

Merely correlational outcomes can be drawn through this study because it does not establish a cause and effect relationship. For it to establish a causal relationship, it would have to be an experimental study or another kind of study based on the paradigm. In the quantitative paradigm, an experiment has to be conducted to establish such a relationship.
The reasons it is not an experiment:
a. The variables are measured separately and discretely without manipulation of the independent variable and a study of the effect of the manipulation on the dependent variable. There is no way of knowing whether the independent variable (hunger) certainly has an effect on the dependent variable (helping behaviour) and whether there exists another variable, which brings us to the next point,
b. Extraneous variables are not controlled for. The helping behaviour could have been influenced by the individuals’ nature, mood, characteristics of the person asking for help, and various other factors which have not been taken into account. This relates to the first point, since the results were not based on the manipulation of the independent variable, but were left to many other variables.
c. It is doubtful whether random sampling was carried out.
d. Even if there was a correlation between the two variables, correlation does not imply causation.
Thus, simply measuring two variables and correlating them to see whether there is a relationship between the two would simply yield a correlational measure and not a causal one.