Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Experimental Research
An experiment is a form of quantitative research that tests causal relationships. The researcher manipulates and controls the conditions under which individuals are observed to behave. Experimental research starts with a hypothesis and then modifies something in a particular relationship. The researcher has control over the environment, variables and individuals under study. At the end of the experiment, the outcome is compared with the situation before the modification. An experiment consists of a number of components:
Treatment or independent variable
Dependent variable
Pre-test
Post-test
Experimental group
Control group
Random assignment
Classical Experimental, Pre-Experimental, Quasi-Experimental and the Solomon Four-Group designs all differ in how they treat these components, thus impacting the reliability and validity of the experiment.
Classical Experimental Design comprises random assignment of cases to groups, a pre-test and a post-test, an experimental group and a control group. Each group is exposed to different conditions or stimulus materials. Random assignment is used to increase the likelihood that each group will contain individual with equal measures of characteristics. The pre-test measures the dependent variable prior to the introduction of the experimental conditions and the post-test measures the...
The validity threats to the Classical Experimental Design have to do with its artificial nature; external and construct validities are the primary concerns. The threats to external validity include:
interaction between testing situation and the experiment stimulus interaction between the experiment stimulus and the subject interaction between the experiment stimulus and history.
Often, it isn't possible to adopt a classical experimental design because it may not be possible to assign subjects at random to different conditions or treatments. Some Pre-Experimental Design studies solve this issue by either omitting the use of control groups or pre-tests. For example, a one-group, post-test design has only one group, a treatment and a post-test. But, this design is flawed because it has no way of telling whether the treatment had any influence on the group as distinct from other untested factors. A one-group pre-test/post-test design uses one group, a pre-test, a treatment and a post-test. This design is better than the one-group, post-test design because respondents are compared against themselves. But, because it lacks a control group, it leaves open the possibility that changes in the dependent variable might be a consequence of something other than the treatment.
Quasi-Experimental Designs make the identification of causal relationships more valid…
Experimental Research Methods in Business Experimental Research Methods The author provides a survey of the literature illustrating applied experimental research methods in cross-sections of business and organization types. The advantages and disadvantages of the experimental research methods are discussed for each of the examples provided which run the gamut from depression-era agricultural economics to research conducted for the National Science Institute. While the article focuses on business research methods, the range of
Some descriptive observation can even be unethical, if the subjects are unaware of the fact they are being observed. Historical research is similar to descriptive research in that it cannot, by virtue of its retrospective nature, affect the variables in question under tightly controlled conditions. A historian may examine historical or past trends in a descriptive or comparative way, and test a hypothesis by examining different types of data, like
Non-experimental research designs is a type of study that is essentially uncontrolled. The research has little to no ability to influence the variables at work, and therefore the research cannot be considered a controlled experiment. There are several types of non-experimental research designs, including correlational, descriptive and historical. Different Types of Non-Experimental Research The different types of non-experimental research are bound by the fact that in all cases, the researcher has no
Experimental, and Survey Research Social researchers have a wide array of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies available to them, including field, experimental and survey research. Each of these research methodologies has some strengths and weaknesses that make them better suited for some applications than others. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the relevant literature concerning field, experiment and survey research to identify their respective strengths
Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have the potential to yield reliable, valid, and important information that can be used to inform public policy. Criminal justice researchers use a wide range of research methods, which vary depending on the research questions, the purpose of the study (applied versus pure research) and the overall paradigm and theoretical framework. Research can be used to validate or disprove an existing theory, alter or
Implicit attitude formation though classical conditioning" (Oslon, & Fazio, 2001 p 413). The research purpose is to demons rate that "attitudes can develop through implicit covariation detection in a new classical conditioning paradigm." (Oslon, & Fazio, 2001 p 413). The study uses female undergraduate participants who view hundreds of images and words to investigate their USs (unconditioned stimuli) with novel CSs (conditioned stimuli) for the experiment. Oslon, & Fazio,