Correlational Research Design Critique Report

Correlational and causal-comparative research both use quantitative data to compare two or more variable. The biggest difference is that correlational research attempts to “determine whether, and to what degree, a relationship exists,” (Mills & Gay, 2015, p. 233) while causal-comparative research “attempts to determine the cause, or reason for existing differences in the behavior or status of groups or individuals” (Mills & Gay, 2015, p. 259). Correlational research involves looking at variables that cannot be manipulated to discover if there’s a relationship between the variables, but causal-comparative research involves analyzing comparison groups to discover if there’s a reason for the differences between the two groups.

For example, to figure out if a relationship exists between the frequency of drug use and student performance (grades) amongst high school students, researchers would conduct correlational research and analyze the frequency of students’ use drugs and compare it to their GPA. In the event that researchers want to examine possible causes for drug use amongst high school students, they would conduct causal-comparative research and group students into two comparison groups (those who use drugs and those who are drug-free) and then compare variables such as age, sex, personality, and family status between the two groups.

Article Summary

Correlation

The Brazilian education system utilizes information and communication technologies (ICTs). In order to effectively understand the technical information in ICTs and apply it to different contexts, teachers and students need to utilize higher level thinking skills as well as reading comprehension. However, little research has been conducted on the relationship between the performance in ICT and academic performance in Brazil. The study by Joly and Martins (2008) premises that there is a relationship between reading comprehension and technology literacy. Using a correlation research design, their study attempts to determine whether or not there is a positive correlation between reading comprehension achievement and performance in using ICTs as well as search for evidence of validity in the Technology Performance Scale (EDTEC).

Summation of Research Literature

In their literature review, they found few Brazilian-based studies on reading comprehension and technological literacy. However, they focused on five studies performed between 2003 and 2008, all of which used EDTEC to measure technology performance. The first study found that women have better reading comprehension with both print and digital text, but three of the studies (the second, third, and fifth) found that men performed better than women with ICT performance. The second and third studies also found that most students (high school and/or university freshmen) are frequent users of ICT technologies, utilizing communication tools more than productivity tools.

The first study, on freshmen psychology students, found that participants became more frustrated with printed text than with digital text, and those younger than 25 better comprehended digital text. The second study, on high school students and university freshmen, found that even though the majority of participants were frequent users of ICT resources, less than a quarter of them had expert ability and almost 10% had no ability. The third study, with university students, attempted to prove the validity of EDTEC by correlating it with the Escala Fatorial de Realização, but it found a low correlation. The fourth study analyzed public school teachers for their technological abilities and found differences in geographical locations, but the majority of teachers did not have the necessary abilities to do the learning activities including ICT as a learning tool. The fifth study involved freshmen university students (aged 18-20) enrolled in online classes and found no significant difference in student’s technological performance by age, nor a correlation between academic performance and performance in ICT. However, they found a moderate correlation between reading comprehension and academic performance.

Method for Collecting and Analyzing Data

The participants were sixty-three male and female K10 and K11 public school students (ages 15-18) near São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were issued paper-based evaluations and they recorded their answers with pen and paper. Students took, on average, thirty minutes to complete the evaluations while an instructor supervised and clarified any directions.

To measure technology literacy, the EDTEC Technology Performance Scale determines how often they use different types of technological resources categorized by: basic and communication tools (i.e. e-mails), concepts and tools of productivity (i.e. bank transactions), and problem solving tools (i.e. database research). To measure reading comprehension, students took a multiple-choice Cloze test. The Cloze technique offers a reliable method for evaluating reading comprehension because the answers are not content-knowledge based. Instead, the passage has blanks for missing words and readers have to select the correct word based upon the information given and their own prior knowledge.

Results and Conclusions

Even though participants answered that they did not have frequent access to the internet or sophisticated technological equipment, the participants’ results confirmed findings from previous studies. The most frequently used ICTs were basic and communication tools and the least frequently used were concepts and productivity tools. In addition, males had the highest frequency in ICT use than females, but females performed better than males in reading comprehension.

New insights were also gleaned in their study. On average, the participants scored above the general average, which indicated that digital media performance is influenced by higher reading comprehension. Results were subdivided to find a positive correlation between reading comprehension and technology media tools (except for basic and communication tools). In K11 female participants, there was a highly significant correlation between reading comprehension and performance with ICTs.

The limitations of this study include: the number of participants, the focus on public high school students, and the fact that the evaluations were paper-based. Joly and Martins suggest looking further into new variables to relate to digital media performance.

References

Joly, M. A., & Martins, R. X. (2008). Digital media performance and reading comprehension: A correlational study with Brazilian students. International Journal of Web-Based Learning and Teaching Technologies, 3(1), 33-42. doi:10.4018/jwltt.2008010104

Mills, G.E., & Gay, L.R. (2015). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.