Question

Each of the following describes the outcome of a hypothetical bivariate correlations study. With both the directionality problem and the third variable problem in mind, describe at least two ways of interpreting each.

1. There is a positive correlation between the level of dominance shown by mothers and the level of shyness sown by children.

2. There is a negative correlation between depression and aerobic fitness level.

3. There is a positive correlation between the number of books found in the home and the college GPAS of the students coming from those homes.

4. There is a negative correlation between grades and test anxiety.

Answer 1

1. There is a positive correlation between the level of dominance shown by mothers and the level of shyness sown by children.

a. One interpretation could be that, more dominance shown by mothers, makes the child fearful and unable to learn how to be independent which leads to more shy behavior.

b. Another interpretation could be that, the more shy the children is, the more the mother dominates, i.e. by telling how he/she should behave or doing things for the child which she is too shy to do herself.

2. There is a negative correlation between depression and aerobic fitness level.

a. Since scores on depression signify higher aerobic fitness levels, One interpretation could be that a third variable, "Workout/Physical Activity" controls both these variables : depression and fitness level. More Physical activities leads to better fitness level, and also causes depression to weaken.

b. Another interpretation could be that the more fit one is (i.e. more the levels of aerobic fitness), the less likely is one to get depression.

3.There is a positive correlation between the number of books found in the home and the college GPAS of the students coming from those homes.

a. One interpretation could be that a third variable "Determination to get good grades" controls these variables. Since more determination means the student will get more books to study, in order to ensure his good scores. And determination also directly effects the GPAs of the students

b. Another variable "Parent's pressure for good grades" also directly influences books in the home, meaning the more Parents want their children to get better scores, the more books they buy for them. And the more the parents' pressure is the better are the GPAs of their children.

4. There is a negative correlation between grades and test anxiety.

a. A very straightforward interpretation could be that more test anxiety leads students to not perform well in the test and hence get less grades.

b. Another interpretation is that the less grades a student gets, the more anxious he/she becomes about tests because of fear of failure in tests. So, less grades leads to more test anxiety.