Researchers often use the correlational strategy to investigate the relationship between such variables as adolescence and marijuana use. Santrock defined a correlational study to describe the strength of the relation between two or more events or characteristics. Hence, the stronger the events are correlated the more prediction one can make from the other. Thus, if one is to state that adolescent marijuana users are more likely to have skipped school in the past month, to have had physical fights in the last year and to have low self-esteem, it does not necessarily mean that marijuana use caused the physical fights, skipped school or low self-esteem. It could mean that the adolescent's marijuana use is stimulated by other underlying emotional problems, which could be the same emotional problems that are causing the physical fights, low self-esteem and missed school days. …
