Research designs for

experimental studies
Association and Causation
• Association - When change in one variable happens along-with the
change in another variable, the two variables are called as ‘Associated’
• Example –
• More income a person has, longer he/she lives on an average
• Higher the spend on marketing budget by a hospital, higher is its bed occupancy rate

• Causation – When change in one variable is causing the change in

another, then the two variables are called causally related
• Just because two variables are associated does not mean that one
variable is causing others
3 conditions for causality
• X came before Y (Temporal relation ship)
• Observed relation ship between X and Y did not happened due to
chance (Strong and repetitive correlation or association)
• Nothing else that account for X-Y relationship

• X – independent variable
• Y – dependent variable
Experimental and Non-Experimental studies
• Experimental studies – These are studies in which an intervention is
carried out in study sample to compare with the control
• Non-experimental studies – No intervention is carried out and only
observation is made
Non-Experimental Studies
No manipulation of independent
variables
Limited ability to control such
factors
Needs larger sample and can be
done at community setting
Establishes correlations and
associations
Experimental Studies
Manipulation of independent
variables
You can control a lot of factors that
can confound or create bias
Usually done on restricted sample
in a lab setting
Establishes causal relationship
 Example – Effect of breathing exercise on lung capacity
Non-Experimental
• Find 100 women age below 40
of which 50 have been doing
breathing exercise daily for last 6
months while the other 50 did
not do breathing exercise at all
• Measure the average lung
capacity of both type of women
and compare
Experimental
• Find 100 women age below 40 years,
who have not been doing breathing
exercise
• Randomly assign 50 of the 100
women to the breathing exercise
group and the other 50 to the no
exercise group.
• After 6 months, measure their
average lung capacity and compare
Types of experimental study
designs
Before and after without control
Example
• Effect of telemarketing on sales on health insurance products
• Annual Sales (Revenue) before telemarketing was started (X)
• Annual Sales after telemarketing was started (Y)
• Effect = Y– X
• If Effect is significant then telemarketing can be called as having a positive
effect on sales
Pros and cons of before and after without control
Pros
• Simple method and can be used
in variety of setting
• Have to work only with control
• Good for studies where a
reliable baseline measurement
(before intervention) of the
phenomenon is available
Cons
• Cannot be adjusted for change in
level of phenomenon that could
have happened because of
other, non-treatment related
factors
• In most research studies, reliable
measure of ‘before intervention’
is either not available or
extremely difficult to measure
After Only With Control
Example
• Effect of ‘Wear Mask’ signage on customer’s behaviour of wearing
mask
• Display the sign in a sample of shops (Experimental group). Take another
sample of shops (Control group), where no such sign are displayed
• Measure the proportion of customers wearing masks in both groups and find
out the difference. Test for statistical significance
Pros and cons of after only with control
Pros
• Effect of non-treatment related
factors can be eliminated
• Can be used where baseline
(before treatment) measure is
not available or reliable
Cons
• Intrinsic difference between
Study and Control sample can
affect the result
• Chance of differentially
influencing the sample’s
behaviour due to introduction of
treatment in one and not in
another (demand characteristic
bias)
Before and After with Control
Example
• Effect of Surgical Safety Checklist on surgical error
• Let’s say SSC was introduced in a country in year 2015. Identify a sample of
surgeons who started using SSC from 2015 (sample A) and a sample of
surgeons who did not used SSC till date (sample B)
• Measure the average surgical error rate of sample A before 2015 (A1) and at
present (A2). Difference in error rate will be (A1-A2)
• Measure the average surgical error rate of sample B before 2015 (B1) and at
present (B2). Difference in error rate will be (B1-B2)
• Difference (A1-A2) – (B1-B2) will the be effect of using SSC. Check for
statistical difference
• Can there be doubt still??
Pros and cons of before and after only with
control
Pros
• Intrinsic difference between
study and control groups gets
factored in
• External (non-treatment) related
factors affecting the
phenomenon also gets factored
Cons
• Chance of differentially
influencing the sample’s
behaviour due to introduction of
treatment in one and not in
another (demand characteristic
bias)
• There can be intrinsic difference
between study and control
groupß
Formal Experimental Designs
Two Group Simple Randomized
 Example
• How much can ‘Communication training’ help in improving productivity?
• Randomly select a sample (200) of medical representatives of a pharma company
• Randomly assign 100 to experimental group, who receive a standardised training of
communication
• The other 100 are assigned to control group, who receive a general technical training
• After a specific period, measure the average sale per MR. Observe the difference
between experimental and control groupß

• SSC and error rate

• Take a large random sample of surgeons who are not using SSC. Randomly divide
them in two sub-sample (A and B). Ask A to use SSC and ask B to use any dummy
checklist
• Check the average error rate in both group. Difference will be the effect of using SSC
Pros and cons of two group simple randomized
Pros
• Randomization nullifies the
intrinsic difference between
study and control group
• Dummy treatment in control
group reduces the level of bias
introduced in study and control
group
Cons
• Randomization requires large
sampling frame, which can
become a limitation
• If the treatment in being
introduced by multiple
researcher then inter-researcher
difference may differentially
impact the subjects
Random
Replication Design
Example
• How much do counselling help in reducing depression
• Take a random sample of 300 people suffering from depression
• Randomly divide them in two groups (Group E and group NE) – 150 in each
• Divide group E and NE into 5 sub-groups in each category (E1,E2…..,E10 and
NE1,NE2…..NE10)
• Take a random sample of 20 qualified mental health therapists. Randomly
assign one therapist to each sub-group
• Therapists assigned to sub-group E1 to E10 are told to provide therapeutic
counselling to their patients
• Therapists assigned to sub-group NE1 to NE10 are told to just spend time with
their patients but do not attempt counselling
• Measure the level of depression of patients in both the group
• Difference in the average level will be due to the counselling
Pros and cons of random replication design

Pros
• In addition to the pros of two
group simple randomized study,
randomization of researcher
conducting treatment also
eliminates effect of inter-
researcher difference
Cons
• Complexity increases as
randomization is also required
for those who will be
administering treatment
• Resource intensive
Single Blinded Design
Double blinded design
Experimental Designs
• INFORMAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
• Before and after without control
• After only with control
• Before and after with control
• FORMAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
• Completely randomized trial
• Two group simple randomized
• Random replication design
• Blinded studies
• Single blinded
• Double blinded
Practice
• Construct a ‘before and after with control design’ to study, how have
clinical establishment act impacted the Net mortality rate in hospitals
• Construct an appropriate research design to examine, how much
effect does the financial incentives have on productivity of labourers
Thanks