Do you know what a quasi-experimental design is? If yes, then it is good. However, there is no need to worry if you do not know anything about it. The reason is that after reading today’s post, you will have all the required knowledge about this experimental design. Generally, the quasi-experimental design is used where some ethical and practical research concerns make it almost impossible to conduct a true experiment.
This research design resembles most to a true experiment and establishes the cause-and-effect relationship between the variables. However, many students are unaware of this important
research design, its types and examples. Therefore, keeping this in mind, I have decided to dedicate today’s article to this experimental design. First of all, let’s define it.
What Is A Quasi-Experimental Design? Explain With Importance:
To learn about this research design, first, let’s crack the meaning of the word “quasi.” The quasi means “resemblance.” As a result, the quasi-experimental design is a design which resembles the actual experiment, but in fact, it is not an actual experiment. Like a true experiment, this experiment design aims at establishing the cause-and-effect relationship between the research variables, i.e., independent and dependent. In this experimental design, the independent variable gets manipulated to see its effect on the dependent variable. However, the internal validity of this research design is not as strong as the actual experiment. It is still a good research design in cases where the situation demands it.
As far as the importance of quasi-experimental design is concerned, it is way less expensive than performing the actual experiment on the independent and dependent variables. It also requires fewer resources to collect the data and research it. Moreover, in this research design, you have control over the population. So, all these things make it more important. What Is An Example Of A Quasi-Experimental Design?
From the discussion above, it is now evident that you can use this experimental design where the actual experiment is not possible due to some reasons.
Best dissertation researchers have given an example as stated below:
“Suppose you discover that a group of psychologists in a clinic have decided to try out new therapy for the treatment of a disease. At the time same time, the other psychologists who also treat the same diseases have chosen to stick to the normal protocols. Now, as a researcher, you can use the data of both groups of psychologists to see which therapy is the most effective.”
Hence, this is what quasi-experimental design is all about and how you can perform an experiment without performing it in actuality.
Types Of Quasi-Experimental Design
After having an initial idea of this experimental design, let’s discuss its types. A brief description of the three types of quasi-experimental research design is as follows:
1. Nonequiavlent Groups Design
The first type of this experimental design is a nonequivalent groups design. In this type, the researcher chooses existing groups that are similar to each other. The condition of choosing the groups is that there must be only one group receiving the treatment. This type of experimental design is different because all the groups in the true experiment are considered equivalent. However, in quasi-experiment research, the groups become nonequivalent because there is no more utilisation of the random selection of the groups. When using this experiment design, as a researcher, you must account for confounding variables. Meanwhile, the best dissertation help services are always available in case of any issues. 2. Regression Discontinuity
The second type of quasi-experimental design is
regression discontinuity. This type is based on the proposition that many of the treatments that you want to study are based on a basic level of cutoff. It means those who fall in the range of that cutoff receive the treatment, and those who do not fall, do not receive the treatment. In this type of quasi-experimental research design, the group differences are so minor that they are almost non-existent. This allows the researcher to use the groups which are under the limit as the reference groups and the groups above the limit as intervention groups.
3. Natural Experiments
The next type of quasi-experimental design is the natural experiment. As a researcher, you usually choose which group the participants involved in the research are allocated. This applies to both, i.e., in the lab and out of the lab room. In this type, a random assignment of patients is occurred because of the external nature of the experiment. Do not think that natural experiments are actual experiments. These experiments involve observing the research participants in their natural habitat.
Conclusion
Conclusively, I have discussed the definition, types, and an example of quasi-experimental design in today’s article. This information is enough to have a know-how of this very important experimental design. Moreover, if you want to know more about this research design, go to the internet now and explore the content related to it.
