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Correlational Study In Children

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Parents believe giving children sugar makes them hyperactive, but is this statement valid? To test the validity of the statement, we can conduct a correlational study and an experimental study to test the claim. The two will differ in how controlling we can be with the variables and what types of conclusions we can make. A correlational study is a type of study that looks at natural relationships between variables. It helps us explain and predict relationships between variables without altering them. The independent variable in this correlational study is the amount of sugar that children intake. The dependent variable is the hyperactivity of children. I can operationalize the independent variable, “amount of sugar,” as the number of candy …show more content…

This allows me to make causation statements between variables. First, the independent variable is the amount of sugar consumed by children and the dependent variable is the hyperactivity of the children. I can operationalize the independent variable, amount of sugar consumption, as the number of cups of apple juice [24 grams of sugar per 1 cup of apple juice] given to children vs. cups of water given to children. The dependent variable, hyperactivity, can be operationalized by measuring the number of minutes it takes for a child to fall …show more content…

This is because when a child is hyperactive, he or she hypothetically spend more time trying to fall asleep. If the amount of time it took for a child to fall asleep increased as the cups of apple juice given to a child in a day increased, I can report a positive causation between the sugar intake and hyperactivity of a child. If the amount of time to fall asleep decreased as the cups of apple juice given increased, I can report a negative correlation between sugar intake and hyperactivity. If there is no visible correlation between the cups of apple juice consumed and the time it took a child to fall asleep, then I have zero correlation where the two variables are

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