LESSON 3

KINDS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Quantitative Research

Experimental Non-Experimental

Survey Research
True Experimental Quasi Experimental 1. Descriptive Research
Research Research 2. Correlational Research
3. Comparative Research

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
■ Experimental research is concerned primarily with the cause and effect relationships in studies that involve
manipulation or control of the independent variables and measurement of the dependent variables.

■ The key idea is that the researcher tries to set up a situation where the ONLY systematic difference between the
groups is the different levels of the independent variable.

■ In experimental research, the researcher attempts to hold all variables other than the independent variable
constant.

Experimental group vs control group.

■ An experimental group receives the experimental treatment. A control group does not receive the experimental
treatment condition. The standard in experimental research is to compare an experimental group with a control
group.

3 Different ways a researcher can use to manipulate an independent variable.

a. The IV can be manipulated by presenting a condition or treatment to one group and withholding the condition or
treatment from another group (the presence or absence technique). For example, the researcher may give a new
drug to one group and a placebo (a pill with no active ingredient) to the control group.
b. The IV can be manipulated by varying the amount of a condition or variable (the amount technique). For example,
the researcher may provide three levels of instruction to the participants in three groups (one hour, two hours,
and five hours).
c. The IV can be manipulated by varying the type of the condition or treatment administered (the type technique).
For example, the researcher may provide client-centered counselling to one group of depressed patients and
provide rational-emotive therapy to the other group of depressed patients.

True Experimental Design

■ A design is considered a true experiment when the following criteria are present:

– Presence of treatment or intervention.

– Presence of experimental and control group.

– Random assignment of subjects.

Types of True Experimental Research Design

1. Pretest-posttest controlled group design

• Subjects are randomly assigned to groups.

• A pretest is given to both groups.

• The experimental group receives the treatment while the control group does not.
 • A posttest is given to both groups.

2. Posttest only controlled group design

• Subjects are randomly assigned to groups.

• The experimental group receives the treatment while the control group does not.

• A posttest is given to both groups.

3. Solomon four-group design

• Subjects are randomly assigned to groups.

• Experimental group 1 and control group 1 are pretested.

• Experimental group 2 and control group 2 receive the routine treatment and no treatment.

• A posttest is given to all four groups.

 Solomon four-group is considered as the most reliable and suitable experimental design. It minimizes
threats to both internal and external validity.

Quasi Experimental Research

■ A design in which either there is no control group or the subjects are not randomly assigned to groups.

Some reasons in using Quasi Experimental Research.

a. It would be unethical to withhold treatment from a control group. This is usually the case with life-threatening
illness, like cancer.
b. It would be unethical to treat patients; for example, you might want to find out if a certain drug causes
blindness.
c. A regular experiment might be expensive and impossible to fund.
d. An experiment could technically fail due to loss of participants, but potentially produce useful data.
e. It might be logistically impossible to control for all variables in a regular experiment.
f. Some experiments naturally fall into groups.
Example 1 -You might want to compare educational experiences of first, middle and last born children.
Random assignment isn’t possible, so these experiments are quasi-experimental by nature.
Example 2 - Does smoking during pregnancy leads to low birth weight? It would be unethical to
randomly assign one group of mothers packs of cigarettes to smoke. The researcher instead asks
the mothers if they smoked during pregnancy and assigns them to groups after the fact. (ex post
facto)

NON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
■ By definition, non-experimental designs are those in which none of the three criteria for true experimentation
exists in the structure of sample selection, exposure to an experimental condition, and data collection.

■ These designs are most useful when testing a concept or construct a set of relationships.

Survey Research

■ Surveys generally ask the respondents to report on their attitudes, opinions, perceptions, or behaviors.

■ Aims at describing characteristics, opinions, attitudes, and behaviors as they currently exist in a population.

Descriptive Research

■ Utilized for the purpose of accurately portraying a population that has been chosen because of some specific
characteristics.

■ You want to observe and describe something in an effort to understand it better.

Example: A study to assess the factors influencing postnatal depression among postnatal mothers in Balanga
City.

Correlational Research

■ Examines if variables relate to each other.

 ■ Quantifies the strength or relationship between the variables.

Weak points

• Correlation research only uncovers a relationship; it cannot provide a conclusive reason for why
there's a relationship.
• A correlative finding doesn't reveal which variable influences the other.

For example, finding that wealth correlates highly with education doesn't explain whether having
wealth leads to more education or whether education leads to more wealth.

Example: A correlational study to assess the relationship between stress and coping behavior seen among
patients with myocardial infarction in selected hospitals in Balanga City.

Comparative Research

■ States the differences or similarities between or among people, things, objects, etc.

■ Examine the differences between two groups on some dependent variable.

Example: A comparative study of dietary practices of anemic and non-anemic adolescent girls in selected
colleges.

If the study is quantitative, ask:

REMEMBER:

There is no single best way to conduct a research, nor is there a universally applicable
research design.