 itrefers to the overall strategy that you

choose in order to integrate the different

components of the study in a coherent
(consistent/understandable) and logical way,
thereby ensuring you will effectively address
the research problem. Furthermore, a
research design constitutes (compose) the
blueprint for the selection, measurement
and analysis of data.
 The research problem determines the
research design you should use.
 Emphasizes objective measurements and
statistical, mathematical, or numerical
analysis of data collected through polls,
questionnaires, and survey.
 Experimental
 Non-Experimental
 Allows the researcher to control the
situation.
 It allows the researcher to answer the
question, “what causes something to occur?”
 Allows the researcher to indentify cause and
effect between variables and to distinguish
placebo effects from treatment effects.
(improvement of the condition that occurs inn response to
treatment but cannot be considered due to the specific
treatment used)
 Supports the ability to limit alternative
explanation and to infer (imply) direct causal
relationships in the study.
 The approach provides the highest level of
evidence for single studies.
 Has the least internal validity. (is the
approximate truth about inferences regarding cause-effect
or causal relationships. Thus, internal validity is only
relevant in studies that try to establish a causal
relationship.)
 Pre-experimental designs are so named
because they follow basic experimental steps
but fail to include a control group. In other
words, a single group is often studied but no
comparison between an equivalent non-
treatment group is made. Examples include
the following:
 In this arrangement, subjects are presented
with some type of treatment, such as a
semester of college work experience, and
then the outcome measure is applied, such
as college grades. Like all experimental
designs, the goal is to determine if the
treatment had any effect on the
outcome. Without a comparison group, it is
impossible to determine if the outcome
scores are any higher than they would have
been without the treatment. And, without
any pre-test scores, it is impossible to
determine if any change within the group
itself has taken place.
 A benefit of this design over the previously
discussed design is the inclusion of a pretest to
determine baseline scores. To use this design in
our study of college performance, we could
compare college grades prior to gaining the work
experience to the grades after completing a
semester of work experience. We can now at
least state whether a change in the outcome or
dependent variable has taken place. What we
cannot say is if this change would have occurred
even without the application of the treatment or
independent variable. It is possible that mere
maturation caused the change in grades and not
the work experience itself.
 Theprefix *quasi means “resembling.” Thus
quasi-experimental research is research that
resembles experimental research but is not
true experimental research. Although the
independent variable is manipulated,
participants are not randomly assigned to
conditions or orders of conditions (Cook &
Campbell, 1979).
 •As Campbell and Stanley (1966) explain,
quasiexperiments arise when researchers
lack the control necessary to perform a true
experiment.
 •Quasi-experiments are recommended when
true experiments are not feasible.