ABSTRACT
The label “causal research” is misleading. Results of an experiment cannot conclude with 100 percent surety that one thing causes another; they can only indicate that there is an association between the variables. The statistical processes that measure this association include a system of degrees to which a researcher can conclude that the associations or relationships did not occur by chance. The measurements range from 0.0 as an indicator of no relationship to 1.0 as an indicator of a perfect relationship. Researchers conduct experiments when they want to determine whether a causal relationship exists between two or more variables. Experimental designs enable researchers to measure the strength—and sometimes the direction—of the possible relationship. This chapter describes the process.
