What is the difference between experimental and correlation designs?

Experimental designs establish cause and effect. This is done through manipulation of the independent variable (IV) to see the effect on the dependent variable (DV). Correlations cannot establish cause and effect. Correlations simply look at the relationship between two variables and see if it is: positive (both increase), negative (one increases, one decreases), or there is no relationship. "Correlation does not equal causation."

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