Experiments are an excellent data collection strategy for social workers wishing to observe the effects of a clinical intervention or social welfare program. Understanding what experiments are and how they are conducted is useful for all social scientists, whether they plan to use this methodology or simply understand findings of experimental studies.
An experiment is a method of data collection designed to test hypotheses under controlled conditions. Students in my research methods classes often use the term experiment to describe all kinds of research projects, but in social scientific research, the term has a unique meaning and should not be used to describe all research methodologies. Experiments have a long and important history in social science. Behaviorists such as John Watson, B. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov, and Albert Bandura used experimental designs to demonstrate the various types of conditioning.
Using strictly controlled environments, behaviorists were able to isolate a single stimulus as the cause of measurable differences in behavior or physiological responses. The foundations of social learning theory and behavior modification are found in experimental research projects. Moreover, behaviorist experiments brought psychology and social science away from the abstract world of Freudian analysis and towards empirical inquiry, grounded in real-world observations and objectively-defined variables.
Experiments are used at all levels of social work inquiry, including agency-based experiments that test therapeutic interventions and policy experiments that test new programs. Several kinds of experimental designs exist. In general, designs that are true experiments contain three key features: independent and dependent variables, pretesting and posttesting, and experimental and control groups.
In a true experiment, the effect of an intervention is tested by comparing two groups. One group is exposed to the intervention the experimental group , also known as the treatment group and the other is not exposed to the intervention the control group. In some cases, it may be immoral to withhold treatment from a control group within an experiment.
If you recruited two groups of people with severe addiction and only provided treatment to one group, the other group would likely suffer. For example, standard substance abuse recovery treatment involves attending twelve-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings. A substance abuse researcher conducting an experiment may use twelve-step programs in their comparison group and use their experimental intervention in the experimental group.
The results would show whether the experimental intervention worked better than normal treatment, which is useful information. A variable which can be manipulated by the researcher Random distribution This experimental research method commonly occurs in the physical sciences. It also provides the best method to test your theory, thanks to the following advantages: Researchers have a stronger hold over variables to obtain desired results.
The subject or industry does not impact the effectiveness of experimental research. Any industry can implement it for research purposes. The results are specific. After analyzing the results, you can apply your findings to similar ideas or situations.
You can identify the cause and effect of a hypothesis. Researchers can further analyze this relationship to determine more in-depth ideas. Experimental research makes an ideal starting point. The data you collect is a foundation on which to build more ideas and conduct more research. Related Posts. Create online polls, distribute them using email and multiple other options and start analyzing poll results. Research Edition LivePolls.
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What are the different types of experimental research design? Book a Free Demo. Pre-experimental research design:. There are three kinds of pre-experimental research: One-shot Case Study Research Design: Here, one group is studied at a single point in time. This group is generally studied after the implementation of a variable that is presumed to affect another variable has been employed.
This kind of experimental research design does not employ a control or comparison group. One-group Pretest-Posttest Research Design: Here, a single case is observed twice, once before the treatment or manipulation of the independent variable and one after the changes. If the outcome of before and after is different, it is assumed that it was caused by the independent variable.
This kind of experimental research design, too, does not employ a control or comparison group. Static-group Comparison: In this experimental research design, two groups are under observation. One group has experienced the manipulation of the independent variable while the other has not.
The changes that are observed between the two groups are assumed to be a result of the manipulations of the independent variable. Free Market Research Toolkit. True experimental research design. Quasi-experimental research design. The following points outline the advantages of experimental research: Researchers have more control and hold over the variables in order to obtain desired results. The results of experimental research are valid and specific.
The results found can be generalised to similar ideas or situations. It enables hypothesis testing and hence gives researchers an ideal starting point. Read more. Market researchers can apply experimental research to a wide breadth of testing needs. Virtually anything that requires proof, confirmation, or is clouded by uncertainty can put experimentation into practice.
The following is an example of how a business can use this research:. A product manager needs to convince the higher-ups in a denim company to launch a new product line at a particular department store. The manager has to prove that this line is needed in order for the company to pitch the idea to the department store.
The product manager can then conduct experimental research to provide a strong case for their theory, that a new line can raise sales. The product manager performs experimental research by executing a test in a few stores, in which the new line of denim is sold. These stores are varied in location to signify the target market sales before and after the launch.
The test runs for a month to determine if the hypothesis the new line resulting in increased attention and sales can be proven. This represents a field experiment. The product manager must heed the sales and foot traffic of the new product line, paying attention to spikes in revenue and overall sales to justify the new line. Survey research runs contrary to experimental research, unlike the other main forms of research such as exploratory, descriptive and correlational research.
This is because the nature of surveys is observational, while experimental research, as its name signifies, relies on experimentations, that is testing out changes and studying the reactions to the changes. Despite the contrast of survey research to experimental research, they are not completely at odds.
In fact, surveys are a potent method to gain further insight into an existing experiment or understand variables before conducting an experiment in the first place. As such, businesses can adopt a wide variety of surveys to complement their experimental research. Here are some of the key forms of surveys that work in tandem with experimentation:. Experimental research differs from exploratory, descriptive and correlational research in self-evident ways.
It is, however, often conflated with causal research. However, they too have notable differences. Causal research involves finding the cause-and-effect relationships between variables. Thus, it too employs experimentation. However, this means that causal research is a form of experimental research, not the other way around. Experimental research, on the other hand, is fully science and experiment-based, as it chiefly seeks to prove or disprove a hypothesis.
While this largely involves studying independent and dependent variables, as it does in causal research, it is not solely based on these aspects. Instead, it can introduce a new variable without knowing the dependent variable or experiment on an entirely new idea as in the example used in the previous selection. Causal research looks into the comparison of variable relationships to find a cause and effect, while experimental research states an expected relationship between variables and is bent on testing a hypothesis.
As far as comparisons to correlational research go, while experimental research also studies the relationships between variables, it functions far beyond this by manipulating the variables and virtually all subjects involved in experiments.
On the contrary, correlational research does not apply any alterations or conditioning to variables. Instead, it is a purely observational research method. As such, it merely detects whether there is a correlation between only 2 variables. In contrast, experimental research studies and experiments with several at a time. Exploratory research is vastly different from experimental research, as it forms the very foundation of a research problem and establishes a hypothesis for further research.
As such, it is conducted as the very first kind of research around a new topic and does not fixate on variables. Descriptive research , like exploratory research and unlike experimental research, is conducted early in the full research process, following exploratory research.
Like exploratory research, it seeks to paint a picture of a problem or phenomenon , as it zeros in an already-established issue and delves further, in pursuit of all the details and conditions surrounding it. Thus, unlike experimental research, it only observes; it does not manipulate variables in any capacity or setting. Experimental research offers several benefits for researchers and businesses.
However, as with all other research methods, it too carries a few disadvantages that researchers should be aware of. Experimental research is often the final form of research conducted in the research process and is considered conclusive research. The following explains the general steps required to successfully complete experimental research.
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