Constitute of Evidence

Experimental study
• This is the most accurate & Use to establish cause and effect
relationship.
• Study can predict confidently that the observed effect on the
dependable variable is only due to the manipulation of the
independent variable.
A. The variable that the researcher has control over is called the
Independent variable.
B. The outcome or effect that the research is studying is called the
Dependent variable(outcome) & can’t be manipulated.
A true experimental research design must essentially
consist of the following characteristics:
1. Manipulation: the process by
which researchers purposefully change, alter, or
influence the independent variables (IVs), which
are also called treatment variables
2. Control: controlling the effects of extraneous
variables on the dependent variable in which
researcher is interested
3. Randomization
 RANDOMIZATION:

 Randomization means that every subject has an equal

chance of being assigned to experimental or of study
subjects on a random basis.
 Through random assignment of subject under
experimental or control group, chances of systemic bias
is eliminated.
 Randomization is used in true experimental research
design to minimize the threat of internal validity of the
study & to eliminate the effect of extraneous variables on
dependent variables.
TYPES OF THRUE EXPERIEMNTAL DESIGN
True Experiential Design

Crossover
Post-test
only

Randomized
Pretest block
post-test
only
Solomon 4 Factorial
groups
 1:Post test only control design
 Composed of two randomly assigned group, i.e.
experimental & control, but neither of which is pretested
before the implementation of treatment on the
experimental group.
 In addition, while treatment is implement on the
experimental group only, post-test observation is carried
out on both the group to assess the effect of
manipulation.
 This design can be helpful in situations where it is not
possible to pretest the subjects.
 For example, to study the effect of an educational
intervention related to urinary incontinence on the
subsequent help-seeking behavior of older adults.
 1: Post test only control design:

Exp. group Treatment Post-test

Random
assignment

Control group Post-test

 2: Pretest post test only design:
 In this research designs, subjects are randomly assigned
to either the experimental pr the control group.
 The effect of the dependent variable on both the groups
is seen before the treatment (pretest).
 Later, the treatment is carried out on experimental group
only, & after-treatment observation of dependant variable
is made on both the groups to examine the effect of the
manipulation of independent variable on dependant
variable.
 For example, such a design could be used for ‘an
experimental study to assess the effectiveness of
cognitive behavioral therapy interventions for patients
with breast cancer.’
 2: Pretest post test only design:

Exp. pretest Treatment Post-

group test

Random
assignment

Control pretest Post-test

group
3: Solomon four group design:
 There are two experimental groups (experimental group
1 & experimental group 2) & two control groups
(control group 1 & control group 2).
 Initially, the investigator randomly assigns subjects to
the
four groups.
 Out of the four groups, only experimental group 1 &
control group1 receives the pretest, followed by the
treatment to the experimental group 1 & experimental
group 2.
 Finally, all the four groups receive post-test, where the
effects of the dependant variables of the study are
observed & comparison is made of the four groups to
assess the effect of independent variable (experimental
treatment) on the dependant variable.
 In this, experimental group 2 was observed at
one occasion, & that score should be similar to
average scores of those in experimental &
control groups.
 To estimate the amount of change in
experimental & control group 2, the
average test scores of experimental & control
groups 1 are used as baseline
 The solomon four-group design is believed to
be most prestigious experimental research
design, because it minimizes the threat to
internal & external validity.
 3: Solomon four group design:
Exp. Group 1 pretest treatment Post-test

Control Group 1 pretest Post-test

Random
assignment

Exp. Group 2 treatment Post-test

Control Group 2 Post-test

4: factorial design:

 In factorial design, researcher manipulates

two or more independent variables
simultaneously to observe their effects on
the dependant variables.
 This design is useful when there are more

than two independent variables, called

factors to be tested.
5: RANDOMIZED BLOCK DESIGN:

 When there are a large number of experimental

comparison groups, the randomized block
design is used to bring homogeneity among
selected different groups.
 This is simple method to reduce the
variability among the treatment groups by a
more homogeneous combination of the
subjects through randomized block design.
 For example, a researcher wants to examine the
effects of three different antihypertensive drugs on
patients with hypertension.
 In this example, to ensure the homogeneity among
the subjects under
treatment, researcher randomly places the subjects in
homogeneous groups (blocks) like patients with
primary hypertension, diabetic patients with
hypertension, & renal patients with hypertension .
5: Randomized block design

Blocks
Types of
antihypertensive Patients with Diabetic patients with Renal patients
drugs primary hyper tension (II) with hypertension
hypertension (I) (III)

A A, I A, II A, III
B B, I B, II B, III
C C, I C, II C, III
 6: CROSSOVER DESIGN

 In this design, subjects are exposed to more than one

treatment, where subjects are randomly assigned to
different orders of treatment.
 It is also known as ‘repeat measures design’.

 In randomized trials, a crossover design is one in which

each subject receives each treatment, in succession. For
example, subject 1 first receives treatment A, then
treatment B, then treatment C. Subject 2 might receive
treatment B, then treatment A, then treatment C.
Readers looking for evidence of the effects of intervention,
experiences, prognosis or accuracy of diagnostic tests should look first
for relevant systematic reviews. If relevant systematic reviews cannot
be found, the reader can consult reports of individual studies. The best
(least biased) evidence of effects of intervention comes from
randomized clinical trials. Evidence of experiences can be obtained
from qualitative research that typically involves in-depth interviews,
observation of behaviours, or focus groups. Evidence of prognosis can
be obtained from longitudinal studies. referred study type is the
prospective cohort study, but sometimes good prognostic information
can be obtained from retrospective cohort studies or clinical trials.
Evidence of the accuracy of diagnostic tests comes from cross-sectional
studies that compare the findings of the test of interest with a
reference standard.
What is N-of-1 randomized design?