DR

CHAPTER-4
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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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What is an Experiment?
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An experiment is generally used to

infer a causality. In an experiment, a
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researcher actively manipulates one

or more causal variables and
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measures their effects on the

dependent variable of interest.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Necessary Conditions for Making

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Causal Inferences

Concomitant variation
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Time order of occurrence of variables

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Absence of other possible causal factors

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Concepts Used in Experiments

DR

Independent variables: Independent variables

are also known as explanatory variables or
treatments. The levels of these variables are
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manipulated (changed) by researchers to

measure their effect on the dependent variable.
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Test units: Test units are those entities on which

treatments are applied.
Dependent variables: These variables measures
the effect of treatments (independent variable) on
the test units.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Concepts Used In Experiments

DR

 Experiment: An experiment is executed when the

researcher manipulates one or more independent
variables and measures their effect on the
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dependent variables while controlling the effect of

the extraneous variables.
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 Extraneous variables: These are the variables

other than the independent variables which
influence the response of test units to treatments.

Examples: Store size, government policies,

temperature, food intake, geographical location, etc.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Validity in Experimentation
DR

Internal validity: Internal validity tries to examine

whether the observed effect on a dependent
variable is actually caused by the treatments
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(independent variables) in question.

External validity: External validity refers to the
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generalization of the results of an experiment.

The concern is whether the result of an
experiment can be generalized beyond the
experimental situations.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Factors Affecting Internal Validity of

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the Experiment
History
Maturation
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Testing
Instrumentation
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Statistical regression
Selection bias
Test unit mortality

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Factors Affecting External Validity

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The environment at the time of test may be

different from the environment of the real world
where these results are to be generalized.
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Population used for experimentation of the test

may not be similar to the population where the
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results of the experiments are to be applied.

Results obtained in a 5–6 week test may not hold
in an application of 12 months.
Treatment at the time of the test may be different
from the treatment of the real world.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Methods to Control Extraneous

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Variables
Randomization
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Matching
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Use of experimental designs

Statistical control

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Environments of Conducting
Experiments
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Laboratory Environment - In a laboratory

experiment, the researcher conducts the
experiment in an artificial environment
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constructed exclusively for the experiment.

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Field Environment - The field experiment is

conducted in actual market conditions. There is
no attempt to change the real-life nature of the
environment.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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A Classification of Experimental
Designs
DR
D R D E E PA K C H AW L A
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Pre-experimental design
DR

Pre-experimental designs do not make use of any randomization

procedures to control the extraneous variables. Therefore, the
internal validity of such designs is questionable.
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 One-shot case study:

X O
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 One-group pre-test–post-test design:

O1 X O2
 Static group comparison:

Group 1 - X O1

Group 2 - O2

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Quasi-experimental designs
DR

In quasi-experimental design, the researcher can

control when measurements are taken and on
whom they are taken. However, this design lacks
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complete control of scheduling of treatment and

also lacks the ability to randomize test units’
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exposure to treatments.

Time series design:

O1 O2 O3 O4 X O 5 O6 O7 O8

Contd…..

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Quasi-experimental designs
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D R D E E PA K C H AW L A
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Quasi-experimental designs
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Multiple time series design:

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Experimental Group: O1 O2 O3 O4 X O5 O6 O7 O8
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Control Group: O′1 O′2 O′3 O′4 O′5 O′6 O′7 O′8

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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True experimental designs

DR

In true experimental designs, researchers can

randomly assign test units and treatments to an
experimental group. Here, the researcher is able to
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eliminate the effect of extraneous variables from

both the experimental and control group.
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Pre-test–post-test control group:

Experimental Group: R O1 X O2
Control Group: R O3 O4

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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True experimental designs

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 Post-test – only control group design:

Experimental Group: R X O1
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Control Group: R O2
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 Solomon four-group design:

Experimental Group 1 : R O1 X O2
Control Group 1: R O3 O4
Experimental Group 2: R X O5
Control Group 2: R O6

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Statistical designs
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Statistical designs allow for statistical control and

analysis of external variables.
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 Completely randomized design

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 Randomized block design

 Latin square design

 Factorial design

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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RESEARCH
CONCEPTS AND
END OF CHAPTER