Answer:
The answer is 2. correlational research.
Explanation:
Correlational research intends to find the relatioship between two or more variables in a study. For example, a news article titled "Cigarette smokers live ten years less on average" is likely based on a correlational study: the researchers found out that cigarette consumption is related to life expectancy.
It's important to recognise that correlation is not the same as causation. In other words, a relationship between variables does not imply there is a direct cause-effect relationship.