workers, his surveys could not have told us anything about sexual behavior in oth- er social classes.

Second, surveys depend on subjects' verbal reports of their atti- tudes and behaviors. Whether
people give completely honest answers to such sur- veys is difficult to know. One way re- searchers
have attempted to deal with this problem is to ask each question on a survey in two or three
different ways. How consistently subjects respond is one indication of their honesty.

Correlational Studies

Sometimes researchers analyze data from surveys to see what relationships exist among the
variables. For example, a person studying premarital sex may try to determine whether there is a
relationship between income level and sexual atti- tudes. Do people with higher incomes have more
liberal attitudes about sex? To see if two variables are associated or re- lated in some way,
psychologists use a statistical technique devised by Sir Fran- cis Galton known as correlation. Al-
though the mathematics involved are a little complex, the idea is very simple. Measure two
variables, like height and weight, and see if they are related.

One particularly interesting correla tional study examined the deterrent ef fects of capital
punishment (Ehrlich, 1975). The study considered first the se verity of punishment for various crimes
in each state and then checked FBI data to see how often those crimes were com- mitted in the
different states. Sophisti- cated correlational analyses showed that the more severe the
punishments for var- ious crimes, the less frequently the crimes were committed. The conclusion of
this study was that severe punishment, including the death penalty, can deter crime. As we shall see
in a moment, how- ever, this conclusion may not be justi- fied.

Correlational studies give extremely important information about the rela- tionship between two
variables in the real world. However, correlational stud- ies have one serious limitation. Simply
because two variables are related or asso- ciated does not mean that one causes the other, all it
means is that they occur

together. For instance, although variable A may cause variable B, it is also possible that the causal
relationship between the two variables is the reverse. Consider for example the conclusion that
harsh pun- ishment is a deterrent to crime. Such a conclusion cannot be drawn from the data. But
why not? Is there a reasonable, alternative explanation for the correla tion? There might be.
Research in social psychology suggests that if a certain crime is uncommon in an area, judges and
juries will view it as particularly of fensive. Thus they treat defendants who commit rare crimes
harshly. Perhaps the rarity of a crime actually causes it to be severely punished. Does this severe
pun- ishment deter future crime? We can't tell from correlational data. Only an experi- ment,
perhaps using mock juries and fic- tional crimes, could inform us about cause and effect.

Another possible explanation for the correlation between any two variables, A and B, is that a third
variable, C, is the cause of both A and B. For example, research has shown a correlation between
being authoritarian, dogmatic, and rigid, and being prejudiced against minorities (Adorno, Frenkel-
Brunswik, Levinson, & Sanford, 1950). Some researchers have taken this correlation as evidence that
having an authoritarian personality causes people to be prejudiced. However, it is also possible that
conformity pres- sures produce both authoritarian behav- ior patterns and ethnic prejudice. Again, it
is impossible to tell knowing only the correlation (Brown, 1965).

Experimentation

An experiment is a process in which a scientist treats an object of study in a specific way and then
observes the effects of the treatment. The two key elements, then, are treatment and observation of
the effects of the treatment. A chemist may heat a mixture to see if it changes. A biologist may inject
a drug into a muscle to see if it paralyzes movement.

In psychology, experiments are per- formed on animals and humans. Let's consider a specific
example. Two psy- chologists were interested in the effects of observing violence on children's ag-

12

Chapter One