LESSON 3 - ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENTATIONS:

NONEXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

WHAT ARE NONEXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES?

 Nonexperimental approaches do not create levels of an independent variable
nor randomly assign subjects to these levels.
 Also, techniques that do not manipulate antecedent conditions.
 They are used where experiments are not ethical or possible, or where we
want to test hypotheses in realistic conditions, such as children playing, or life
in a gang.

WHAT IS INTERNAL VALIDITY?

 Internal Validity is the degree to which a researcher is able to demonstrate a
causal relationship between the antecedent conditions (independent
variable) and subsequent observed behavior (dependent variable).

WHY NONEXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES OFTEN LOWER IN INTERNAL VALIDITY?

 A nonexperimental studies are lower in internal validity for the reason that
researchers do not create the antecedent conditions or randomly assign
subjects to these conditions.

WHY DO EXPERIMENTS OFTEN ACHIEVE HIGHER INTERNAL VALIDITY THAN

NONEXPERIMENTAL STUDIES?
 An experiment has high internal validity when we can demonstrate that only
the antecedent conditions are responsible for group different behavior.
 An internally valid experiment allows us to draw cause-and-effect conclusions.
 Laboratory experiments are often higher in internal validity because of their
control of extraneous variables. Extraneous variables are other things that
could have caused the behavior change rather than the antecedent condition
or independent variable.
 Researchers create the levels of the independent variable and use procedures
like matching and random assignment to conditions.

WHAT IS EXTERNAL VALIDITY?

 External Validity is the degree to which the research findings can be
generalized to other settings and individuals.
 Also means, generalizability or applicability to people and situations outside
the research setting.
 Nonexperimental are often preferred since they may have a greater external
validity, their generalizability to the real world may be more apparent.
 Nonexperimental studies are more frequently conducted in real-world
settings with a more diverse sample of participants than experiments.

WHAT IS THE DEGREE OF MANIPULATION OF ANTECEDENT CONDITION?

 The degree of manipulation of antecedent condition concerns assignment of
subjects to antecedent condition created for the experiments.
 It varies from low to high; from letting things happen as they will, to carefully
controlled environments.
 Experiments are usually high in degree if manipulation; nonexperiments are
usually low.
WHAT IS THE DEGREE OF IMPOSITION OF UNITS?
 The degree of imposition of units is how much you limit a subject’s responses
on the dependent variable.
 Most true experiments have high imposition of units; nonexperimental
designs can have low or high.

Antecedent Condition and Imposed Units change independently and can be

represent the various research approaches visually.

COMMON NONEXPRIMENTAL APPROACHES

1. Phenomenology
 Phenomenology involves a subject’s description of personal
subjective experience–individual’s immediate experience; personal
experiences as a source of data.
For example, a phenomenological description of ice cream would
not include a list of ingredients, information about fat and calories, or the
likely impact on one’s waistline. Instead, your description includes details
about the flavor, temperature, texture, color, and so on. In other words, you
don’t concern yourself with what appears, but rather, with the thing’s way of
appearing.
 Phenomenology is low in manipulation of antecedent conditions
and low in imposition of units. (low-low).
 Phenomenology cannot be used o understand the causes of
behavior, phenomenology describes, but not explain behavior.

2. Case Studies
 In case studies, a researcher compiles a descriptive study of a
subject’s experiences, observable behaviors, and archival records
kept by an outside observer.
 In Clinical Psychology, an evaluative case study is used to asses an
individual overall level of psychological function.
 Case studies range from low-low to low-high.
 Case studies have several advantages:
o Source of inferences, hypotheses and theories.
o Source of therapy techniques.
o Allow study of rare phenomena.
o Provide exceptions to accepted ideas, theories and
practices.
o Persuasive and motivational value (advertising).
 Case studies have several limitations:
o Representativeness of samples.
o Completeness of data
o Reliance on retrospective data
 Retrospective data are recollections of past events that are
collected in the present.

 Risks of using retrospective data:

 o This information may be compromised by faulty memory,
current mood, and the retrieval cues that are present
when you are asked to recall an event.
 In a deviant case analysis, researchers examine differences
between deviant and normal individuals to identify etiological
factors.
3. Field Studies
 Field studies are nonexperimental studies conducted in the field
(real-life settings). The experimenter does not manipulate
antecedent conditions.
 Field studies range from low-low to high-high. Filed studies include
naturalistic observations and participant observer studies.
 Naturalistic observation examines subjects’ spontaneous behavior
in their actual environments and may obtain more representative
behavior than experiments. They have low manipulation of
antecedents and usually low imposition of units.
 This method can achieve high levels of external validity. When used
to study animals, is called ethology.
 In reactivity, subjects alter their behavior when they know that they
are being observed. When conducting naturalistic observations,
researchers attempt to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
 A participant-observer study involves field observation in which the
researcher is part of the studied group. The researcher pretends to
belong to the group, such as joining a gang to learn about gang
behavior.
 This approach contrasts with naturalistic observation, where the
researcher does not interact with research subjects to avoid
reactivity. Ethical issues exist; IRB may not approve.
 Ethical problems that complicate participant-observer studies:
o The main problems are invasion of privacy, not telling
people that you are studying their behavior, and
pretending to be a group member.
o Pretending to be a group member (e.g., a researcher
pretending to be a weight lifter) is a serious problem that
requires careful planning.
 How do field experiments differ from field studies?
o Field experiments are experiments conducted in real-life
settings. This is not the same as a field study. A field
experiment is a true experiment.
o Field studies are nonexperimental designs used in real-life
settings and include naturalistic observation, unobtrusive
measures, participant-observer studies, and surveys.
 4. Archival Studies
 An archival study is a descriptive method where researchers
reexamine data that were collected for other purposes.
 For example, universities collect a wealth of data through surveys
like the Graduating Senior Questionnaire (GSQ) and interviews.
5. Qualitative research
 Obtains data consisting of words instead of numbers.
 This information is obtained through self-reports, personal
narratives, and expression of ideas, memories, feelings, and
thoughts.
 Why is the rise of qualitative research important?
o The increased use of qualitative research may represent a
paradigm shift – a change in attitudes, values, beliefs,
methods, and procedures accepted during a specific time
period.
o Psychologists have been showing a trend of moving away
from experimentation, quantitative data collection and
hypothesis testing and having been moving more towards
qualitative data collection.
 Qualitative research is invaluable in studying contextual
phenomena, behavior that can only be understood within its
context. For example, we might examine the meaning of religious
faith for patients facing impending surgery.

WHICH INFORMATION SOURCES DOES EMPIRICAL PHENOMENOLOGY USE?

 Contemporary phenomenology is called empirical phenomenology.

 Empirical phenomenology might rely on an experimenter’s private
experiences or other experiential data:
1. The researcher’s self-reflection on relevant experiences.
2. Participants’ oral or written descriptions of their experiences of
the phenomenon.
Buchbinder and Eisikovits (2002) asked women who ere living in
homes with domestic violence to give oral interviews which were taped.
3. Accounts from literature, poetry, visual art, television, theatre,
and previous phenomenological (and other) research.