The scientific study of social attitudes and behavior is an important component of social psychology. In our Week 1/Chapter 1 reading, this importance is established and will be reiterated throughout...

The scientific study of social attitudes and behavior is an important component of social psychology. In our Week 1/Chapter 1 reading, this importance is established and will be reiterated throughout your class readings, so for our first discussion, you will take a closer look at the concept of correlation by finding a correlation described in popular media and examining it critically. When choosing a correlation to write about, consider the following:

• The information must come from popular media (e.g., news stories, news or magazine articles, social media posts, commercials, infomercials), not an academic source (e.g., instructional website, academic journal article, report about an academic research study) and must be located online so everyone can view your source.


• The correlation you choose does not need to be linked to social or any other type of psychology.


• You don't have to choose a report where causation between the variables is inappropriately suggested or stated, but if you do, make sure to point this out in your critique.

Provide a brief description of the report for your chosen correlational example and critically evaluate it. Make sure your post includes the following information:

CHECKLIST:

• Description:Clearly identify the two variables involved in this correlation and explain how were they described as being correlated/related in this report. Was causation between the variables implied or stated in the report? Make sure that your post includes a proper APA-style citation in the text, as well as a complete APA-style reference at the end of the post.


• Opinion:What are your thoughts on the accuracy of how this correlation was described? Are there alternative explanations for the relationship between these variables (e.g., third/common-cause variables, directionality issues)? What have you learned from this exercise about the evaluation of relationships between variables?


• Writing Reminders: Name your post with a title that indicates the topic of your chosen image (creativity is encouraged).Proofread to ensure your post is well organized and has proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation to facilitate understanding and APA-style citation(s) & reference(s) for supporting information.


• Classmate Response Reminders: Respond to at least two of your classmates' initial posts. Share how their post reinforces or clarifies your understanding of a course concept from our class reading; provide constructive, thoughtful feedback designed to build an engaging dialog; or expand upon the discussion by adding new information from appropriate sources. "High level" classmate responses are focused on the social psychology topics at play in that discussion topic and use high-quality, academic sources as references with APA-style citations and references. "Appropriate" replies are clearly related to the original post's content, go beyond simple agreement, and include APA-style citations and references as needed. Quality is more important than quantity, but I expect most appropriate classmate responses will be at least 100 words long. You will not receive credit for a response that simply states that you agree or disagree with someone's ideas or does not deal with appropriate topics.