EXPEREMENTAL Experimental research is 

a study
conducted with a scientific approach using two sets of
variables. The first set acts as a constant, which you use to
measure the differences of the second set. Quantitative
research methods, for example, are experimental.
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Experimental Research:
Types of Designs

Any research conducted under scientifically acceptable conditions

uses experimental methods. The success of experimental studies
hinges on researchers confirming the change of a variable is based
solely on the manipulation of the constant variable. The research
should establish a notable cause and effect.

Content Index
1. What is Experimental Research?
2. Experimental Research Design Types
1. Pre-Experimental Design:
2. True Experimental Design:
3. Quasi-Experimental Design:
3. Advantages

What is Experimental Research?

Experimental research is a study conducted with a scientific
approach using two sets of variables. The first set acts as a constant,
which you use to measure the differences of the second
set. Quantitative research methods, for example, are experimental.

If you don’t have enough data to support your decisions, you must
first determine the facts. This research gathers the data necessary to
help you make better decisions.

LEARN ABOUT: Research Process Steps

You can conduct experimental research in the following situations:

 Time is a vital factor in establishing a relationship between cause

and effect.
 Invariable behavior between cause and effect.
 You wish to understand the importance of cause and effect.

Learn about: Quantitative Market Research

Experimental Research Design Types

The classic experimental design definition is: “The methods used to
collect data in experimental studies.”

There are three primary types of experimental design:

 Pre-experimental research design

 True experimental research design
 Quasi-experimental research design

The way you classify research subjects, based on conditions or

groups, determines the type of research design you should use.
 1. Pre-Experimental Design:
A group, or various groups, are kept under observation after
implementing cause and effect factors. You’ll conduct this research to
understand whether further investigation is necessary for these
particular groups.

You can break down pre-experimental research further in three

types:

 One-shot Case Study Research Design

 One-group Pretest-posttest Research Design
 Static-group Comparison

2. True Experimental Design:

It relies on statistical analysis to prove or disprove a hypothesis,
making it the most accurate form of research. Of the types of
experimental design, only true design can establish a cause-effect
relationship within a group. In a true experiment, three factors need
to be satisfied:

 There is a Control Group, which won’t be subject to changes, and

an Experimental Group, which will experience the changed
variables.
 A variable that can be manipulated by the researcher
 Random distribution

This experimental research method commonly occurs in the physical

sciences.

3. Quasi-Experimental Design:
The word “Quasi” indicates similarity. A quasi-experimental design is
similar to an experimental one, but it is not the same. The difference
between the two is the assignment of a control group. In this
research, an independent variable is manipulated, but the
participants of a group are not randomly assigned. Quasi-research is
used in field settings where random assignment is either irrelevant or
not required.

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Importance of Experimental Design
Experimental research is a powerful tool for understanding cause-
and-effect relationships. It allows us to manipulate variables and
observe the effects, which is crucial for understanding how different
factors influence the outcome of a study.

But the importance of experimental research goes beyond that. It’s a

critical method for many scientific and academic studies. It allows us
to test theories, develop new products, and make groundbreaking
discoveries.

For example, this research is essential for developing new drugs and
medical treatments. Researchers can understand how a new drug
works by manipulating dosage and administration variables and
identifying potential side effects.

Similarly, experimental research is used in the field of psychology to

test theories and understand human behavior. By manipulating
variables such as stimuli, researchers can gain insights into how the
brain works and identify new treatment options for mental health
disorders.

It is also widely used in the field of education. It allows educators to

test new teaching methods and identify what works best. By
manipulating variables such as class size, teaching style, and
curriculum, researchers can understand how students learn and
identify new ways to improve educational outcomes.

In addition, experimental research is a powerful tool for businesses

and organizations. By manipulating variables such as marketing
strategies, product design, and customer service, companies can
understand what works best and identify new opportunities for
growth.

LEARN ABOUT: Causal Research

Advantages
When talking about this research, we can think of human life. Babies
do their own rudimentary experiments (such as putting objects in
their mouths) to learn about the world around them, while older
 children and teens do experiments at school to learn more about
science.

Ancient scientists used this research to prove that their hypotheses

were correct. For example, Galileo Galilei and Antoine Lavoisier
conducted various experiments to discover key concepts in physics
and chemistry. The same is true of modern experts, who use this
scientific method to see if new drugs are effective, discover
treatments for diseases, and create new electronic devices (among
others).

NON-EXPEREMENTAL What Is Non-experimental

Research? Non-experimental research is research that
lacks the manipulation of an independent variable,
random assignment of participants to conditions or
orders of conditions, or both. In a sense, it is unfair to
define this large and diverse set of approaches
collectively by what they are not. What Is Nonexperimental
Research?

Nonexperimental research is research that lacks the manipulation of an independent

variable, random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions, or
both.

In a sense, it is unfair to define this large and diverse set of approaches collectively by
what they are not. But doing so reflects the fact that most researchers in psychology
consider the distinction between experimental and nonexperimental research to be an
extremely important one. This distinction is because although experimental research
can provide strong evidence that changes in an independent variable cause differences
in a dependent variable, nonexperimental research generally cannot. As we will see,
however, this inability does not mean that nonexperimental research is less important
than experimental research or inferior to it in any general sense.

When to Use Nonexperimental Research

As we saw in Chapter 6, experimental research is appropriate when the researcher has

a specific research question or hypothesis about a causal relationship between two
variables—and it is possible, feasible, and ethical to manipulate the independent
variable and randomly assign participants to conditions or to orders of conditions. It
stands to reason, therefore, that nonexperimental research is appropriate—even
necessary—when these conditions are not met. There are many ways in which
preferring nonexperimental research can be the case.

 The research question or hypothesis can be about a single variable rather than a statistical relationship
between two variables (e.g., How accurate are people’s first impressions?).
 The research question can be about a noncausal statistical relationship between variables (e.g., Is there
a correlation between verbal intelligence and mathematical intelligence?).
 The research question can be about a causal relationship, but the independent variable cannot be
manipulated or participants cannot be randomly assigned to conditions or orders of conditions (e.g.,
Does damage to a person’s hippocampus impair the formation of long-term memory traces?).
 The research question can be broad and exploratory, or it can be about what it is like to have a
particular experience (e.g., What is it like to be a working mother diagnosed with depression?).

Again, the choice between the experimental and nonexperimental approaches is

generally dictated by the nature of the research question. If it is about a causal
relationship and involves an independent variable that can be manipulated, the
experimental approach is typically preferred. Otherwise, the nonexperimental
approach is preferred. But the two approaches can also be used to address the same
research question in complementary ways. For example, nonexperimental studies
establishing that there is a relationship between watching violent television and
aggressive behaviour have been complemented by experimental studies confirming
that the relationship is a causal one (Bushman & Huesmann, 2001)[1]. Similarly, after
his original study, Milgram conducted experiments to explore the factors that affect
obedience. He manipulated several independent variables, such as the distance
between the experimenter and the participant, the participant and the confederate, and
the location of the study (Milgram, 1974)[2].

Types of Nonexperimental Research

Nonexperimental research falls into three broad categories: single-variable research,

correlational and quasi-experimental research, and qualitative research. First, research
can be nonexperimental because it focuses on a single variable rather than a statistical
relationship between two variables. Although there is no widely shared term for this
kind of research, we will call it single-variable research. Milgram’s original
obedience study was nonexperimental in this way. He was primarily interested in one
variable—the extent to which participants obeyed the researcher when he told them to
shock the confederate—and he observed all participants performing the same task
under the same conditions. The study by Loftus and Pickrell described at the
beginning of this chapter is also a good example of single-variable research. The
variable was whether participants “remembered” having experienced mildly traumatic
childhood events (e.g., getting lost in a shopping mall) that they had not actually
experienced but that the research asked them about repeatedly. In this particular study,
nearly a third of the participants “remembered” at least one event. (As with Milgram’s
original study, this study inspired several later experiments on the factors that affect
false memories.)

As these examples make clear, single-variable research can answer interesting and
important questions. What it cannot do, however, is answer questions about statistical
relationships between variables. This detail is a point that beginning researchers
sometimes miss. Imagine, for example, a group of research methods students
interested in the relationship between children’s being the victim of bullying and the
children’s self-esteem. The first thing that is likely to occur to these researchers is to
obtain a sample of middle-school students who have been bullied and then to measure
their self-esteem. But this design would be a single-variable study with self-esteem as
the only variable. Although it would tell the researchers something about the self-
esteem of children who have been bullied, it would not tell them what they really
want to know, which is how the self-esteem of children who have been
bullied compares with the self-esteem of children who have not. Is it lower? Is it the
same? Could it even be higher? To answer this question, their sample would also have
to include middle-school students who have not been bullied thereby introducing
another variable.

Research can also be nonexperimental because it focuses on a statistical relationship

between two variables but does not include the manipulation of an independent
variable, random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions, or
both. This kind of research takes two basic forms: correlational research and quasi-
experimental research. In correlational research, the researcher measures the two
variables of interest with little or no attempt to control extraneous variables and then
assesses the relationship between them. A research methods student who finds out
whether each of several middle-school students has been bullied and then measures
each student’s self-esteem is conducting correlational research. In quasi-
experimental research, the researcher manipulates an independent variable but does
not randomly assign participants to conditions or orders of conditions. For example, a
researcher might start an antibullying program (a kind of treatment) at one school and
compare the incidence of bullying at that school with the incidence at a similar school
that has no antibullying program.

The final way in which research can be nonexperimental is that it can be qualitative.
The types of research we have discussed so far are all quantitative, referring to the
fact that the data consist of numbers that are analyzed using statistical techniques.
In qualitative research, the data are usually nonnumerical and therefore cannot be
analyzed using statistical techniques. Rosenhan’s study of the experience of people in
a psychiatric ward was primarily qualitative. The data were the notes taken by the
“pseudopatients”—the people pretending to have heard voices—along with their
hospital records. Rosenhan’s analysis consists mainly of a written description of the
experiences of the pseudopatients, supported by several concrete examples. To
illustrate the hospital staff’s tendency to “depersonalize” their patients, he noted,
“Upon being admitted, I and other pseudopatients took the initial physical
examinations in a semipublic room, where staff members went about their own
business as if we were not there” (Rosenhan, 1973, p. 256).[3] Qualitative data has a
separate set of analysis tools depending on the research question. For example,
thematic analysis would focus on themes that emerge in the data or conversation
analysis would focus on the way the words were said in an interview or focus group.