Which term describes a study that shows a relationship between two variables but does not manipulate them?

• A. Experimental design
• B. Correlational design
• C. Longitudinal study
• D. Quasi-experimental design

Answer: (B)

This question is about identifying a study that looks for relationships between variables without altering them. That is a correlational design. In this approach, researchers measure both variables as they naturally occur and examine how they vary together—whether they rise together (positive relationship) or one tends to rise while the other falls (negative relationship). The strength and direction of this relationship are captured by a correlation, which ranges from -1 to 1.

A key point is that no variables are manipulated, so you can see associations but you can’t infer causation. There could be another variable influencing both, and the direction of influence between the two variables may be unclear.

Why the other options don’t fit: experimental design involves actively manipulating an independent variable and usually random assignment, which is not what’s described here. longitudinal studies track the same participants over time and can reveal changes and sequences, but they aren’t defined by whether a manipulation occurs; the essential feature here is the absence of manipulation and focus on the relationship itself, which is the hallmark of correlational design. Quasi-experimental designs involve some manipulation of variables but lack random assignment, so they also don’t fit the idea of studying a relationship without manipulation.