A nurse has defined the research question as, “How does parents’ IQ level relate to their children’s IQ?” What type of research-question format (or research design) is implied by this question?
The correct answer and explanation is:
The research question “How does parents’ IQ level relate to their children’s IQ?” implies a correlational research design.
Explanation:
This question is asking about the relationship between two variables:
- Parents’ IQ level
- Children’s IQ
The goal is to understand if there is an association or connection between these two variables. This is typical of a correlational study, which examines how two or more variables change together but does not imply causation.
Key Points about Correlational Research:
- Purpose:
Correlational research investigates whether and how strongly pairs of variables are related. In this case, it looks at whether parents’ IQ scores are related to their children’s IQ scores. - Nature of Data:
Both variables are measurable (IQ scores), and the research measures these variables to find the strength and direction of their association. - No Cause and Effect:
While a correlation may suggest a relationship, it does not prove that one variable causes the other. For example, even if parents’ and children’s IQs are related, this does not necessarily mean that parents’ IQ causes children’s IQ — other factors like environment, education, and genetics might influence both. - Statistical Analysis:
Correlational studies use statistical tools like Pearson’s correlation coefficient to quantify the degree of relationship between variables.
Other Research Designs (why not these?):
- Experimental design would involve manipulating one variable to see the effect on another, which is not implied here.
- Descriptive research simply describes characteristics without looking at relationships.
- Comparative research compares groups but doesn’t necessarily look at relationships between continuous variables.
Summary:
The research question “How does parents’ IQ level relate to their children’s IQ?” indicates a correlational research design because it seeks to explore the relationship or association between two continuous variables without implying causation or experimental manipulation. This type of study helps identify patterns or trends that could be studied further using experimental or longitudinal designs.