Causal Comparative Research
Causal Comparative Research
DESCRIPTION
It is a quantitative research
To determine the cause or consequences of the differences that already exist between or among group of individuals- ex post facto (Latin for after the fact) One variable is considered as the causal (independent variable) and one variable is
CHARACTERISTICS
There are three types of causal-comparative
research:
Exploration of effects Exploration of causes Exploration of the consequences
It is an alternative to experimental research Disadvantage: lack of control over threats to internal validity
Lack of randomization Inability to manipulate independent variable
2) Groups may differ in two ways. -One group possesses a characteristic that the other does not. -Each group has the characteristic, but to differing degrees or amounts.
There are
-The independent variable differentiating the groups must be clearly and operationally defined, since each group represents a different population. -In causal-comparative research the random sample is selected from two already existing populations, not from a single population as in experimental research. -As in experimental studies, the goal is to have groups that are as similar as possible on all relevant variables except the independent variable.
Control Procedures
Lack of randomization, manipulation, and
control are all sources of weakness in a causal-comparative study. Random assignment is probably the single best way to try to ensure equality of the groups. A problem is the possibility that the groups are different on some other important variable (e.g. gender, experience, or age) besides the identified independent variable.
(a) the mean, which indicates the average performance of a group on some measure of a variable, and (b) the standard deviation, which indicates how spread out a set of scores is around the mean, that is, whether the scores are relatively homogeneous or heterogeneous around the mean.
(a) the t test, used to determine whether the means of two groups are statistically different from one another; (b) analysis of variance, used to determine if there is significant difference among the means of three or more groups; and (c) chi square, used to compare group frequencies, or to see if an event occurs more frequently in one group than another.
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