A researcher conducts a study where he wants to know if heat makes people angrier. To test this, he observes people on the quad to look at how angry they seem to be in the spring vs. in the winter. What kind of study is this?

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In this scenario, the researcher is observing people in different seasons to see how angry they seem, without actively manipulating heat or assigning participants to conditions. This hints at an observational approach rather than an experimental one.
Option: Realist
This term does not fit the described design. Realist typically refers to a philosophical stance about knowledge or to realist evaluations in program evaluation, not to a study that compares anger across seasons. It mischaracterizes the methodological approach here.
Option: Correlational
This choice aligns with the setup: the researcher examines naturally occurring variation (seasonal changes in heat) and measures whether it relates to a variable of interest (anger as observed). There is no intentional manipulation, random assignment, or control of variables to establish causation, which is characteristic of correlational designs.
Option: Causal
A causal design would require manipulation of the independent variable (e.g., artificially increasing heat in a controlled setting) and typically random assignment to conditions to infer cause-and-effect. The described study does not involve manipulation or experimental control, so a causal interpretation would be premature.
Option: Random
A purely random design would imply random assignment of participants to different heat conditions or environments, which is not happening here since the researcher is simply observing people in the spring versus winter without assigning them to conditions. Thus, this option does not fit the study's observational nature.

psyc_468_120251_243897 Week 1 Quiz

A researcher conducts a study where he wants to know if heat makes people angrier. To test this, he observes people on the quad to look at how angry they seem to be in the spring vs. in the winter. What kind of study is this?

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