Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

THEORY AND RESEARCH

causal relations—that is, a mutual causal relation-
ship or simultaneous causality. For example, study-
ing a lot can cause a student to get good grades, but
getting good grades also motivates the student
to continue to study. Theories often have recipro-
cal or feedback relationships, but these are difficult
to test. Some researchers call unidirectional rela-
tions nonrecursiveand reciprocal-effect relations
recursive.^5
2.Anassociationmeans that two phenomena
occur together in a patterned way or appear to act
together. People often confuse the word correlation
with association. Correlation has a specific techni-
cal meaning and there are certain statistical require-
ments for it. Association is the more general idea.
The correlation coefficient is a statistical measure
that indicates the strength of association, but there
are other ways to measure an association. Some-
times researchers call association concomitant vari-
ationbecause two variables vary together. Figure 2
depicts 38 people from a lower-income neighbor-
hood and 35 people from an upper-income neigh-
borhood. Can you see an association between race

(represented by lighter and darker shaded figures)

and income level? Some people mistake association

for true causality. For example, when I was in col-

lege, I got high grades on the exams I took on Fridays

but low grades on those I took on Mondays. Thus,

an association existed between the day of the week

and the exam grade. This association did not mean

that the day of the week caused the exam grade.

Instead, the reason for the association was that I

worked 20 hours each weekend and was very tired

on Mondays. If you cannot find an association, a

causal relationship is very unlikely. This is why you

want to find correlations and other measures of asso-

ciation. Yet just because you find an association does

not mean you have causality. It is a necessary but not

a sufficient condition. In other words, you need it for

causality, but it is not enough alone.

EXAMPLE BOX 3

Three Elements of Causality

I read that several politicians visited a Catholic school
in Chicago that had a record of being much more
successful than public schools in educating children.
The next day, the politicians called a news conference
and advocated new laws and the redirection of tax
money to Catholic schools. As a person who wants
children to get a good education, I was interested in
the story, but as a social scientist, I critically evaluated
it. The politicians’ theory said Catholic schools cause
more learning than public schools. They had two ele-
ments of causality: temporal order (first the children
attended a Catholic school, then learning improved)
and association (those attending Catholic schools per-
formed better than those attending public school).
Social researchers know this is not enough informa-
tion. They first try to eliminate alternative explanations
and then try to understand the causal mechanism (i.e.,
what happens in Catholic schools that helps students
learn more). For example, the politicians failed to

eliminate the alternative explanation that children

in the two types of schools had different family cir-

cumstances that affect learning and that this caused

learning differences. If the family circumstances (e.g.,

parents’ education and income, family religious belief

and intensity of belief, two-parent versus single-

parent households, degree of parental interest in

child’s education) are the same for children who

attend both types of schools, then the politicians are

on the right track. The focus, then, is on what Catholic

schools are doing that improves learning. If the family

circumstances are very different, then the politicians

are making a big mistake. Unfortunately, politicians

are rarely trained in social research and most make

quick, high-publicity decisions without the careful

reasoning or the patience for precise empirical inves-

tigation. Fortunately, sociologist James S. Coleman

and others have studied this issue (see Coleman and

Hoffer, 1987).

Association The co-occurrence of two events, char-

acteristics, or factors so that when one happens or

is present, the other one is likely to happen or be

present as well.