ABSTRACT

In this chapter we discuss the selection and application of appropriate statistical methods used with the associational research approach. The basic associational research approach examines the relation between two continuous variables (or at least ones that have many ordered levels) leading to a correlation coefficient. The most common correlation coefficient used to describe the relationships between two continuous variables is the Pearson product-moment correlation, r. When one or both of the variables is not normally distributed or there are violations precluding the use of parametric statistics, the Spearman correlation or the Kendall tau (τ) is usually used. We also discuss common problems associated with the reporting and interpretation of correlation coefficients and the need to present effect sizes and confidence intervals.