Indiana Social Studies P.1.2
The Standard
Differentiate between research methods including descriptive, correlational, and experimental methods, decide when to use each, and differentiate between correlation and causation.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students choose a method to describe a situation, look for a link between two things, or test whether a change has an effect. They explain why a link alone does not prove cause.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given data linking sleep and grades, a student identifies a correlation and names another possible explanation. To test whether flashcards improve quiz scores, they propose assigned groups and a fair comparison.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat two things happening together as proof that one caused the other. They may also call a survey an experiment because it uses numbers, or assume any comparison is a fair test.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A survey finds that students who use flashcards score higher on vocabulary quizzes. Name the method, give another possible explanation, and outline a fair test of whether flashcards help.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs 12 fictional cards showing sleep hours and grades; students plot the data and write one claim the pattern cannot support.
Ask: If breakfast eaters earn higher grades, can we say breakfast caused the difference? Have students name another possible explanation.
Use three cards: count bus riders, link commute to tardiness, test reminders with assigned groups; students match each to a method.
Give students a short article about a screen time and anxiety survey; they circle causal language and rewrite the headline to reflect correlation.
Free download
Printable P.1.2 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to P.1.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- S.1.5
Identify the research methods commonly used by sociologists including survey research, content/historical analysis, secondary analysis, controlled experiments, ...
- P.1.4
Distinguish between scientific and nonscientific research.
- P.1.10
Construct a testable hypothesis and apply the principles of research design to an appropriate experiment.
- P.1.3
Create testable hypotheses pertaining to the interaction between independent and dependent variables and distinguish between experimental and control groups and...
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.
Also for this standard:Make a WorksheetMake a QuizMake a Sub Lesson