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CHAPTER-4
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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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What is an Experiment?
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An experiment is generally used to

infer a causality. In an experiment, a
researcher actively manipulates one
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or more causal variables and

measures their effects on the
dependent variable of interest.
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Necessary Conditions for Making

Causal Inferences
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Concomitant variation
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Time order of occurrence of variables

Absence of other possible causal factors

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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Concepts Used in Experiments

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Independent variables: Independent variables

are also known as explanatory variables or
treatments. The levels of these variables are
manipulated (changed) by researchers to
measure their effect on the dependent variable.
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Test units: Test units are those entities on which

treatments are applied.
Dependent variables: These variables measures
the effect of treatments (independent variable) on
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the test units.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Concepts Used In Experiments

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 Experiment: An experiment is executed when the

researcher manipulates one or more independent
variables and measures their effect on the dependent
variables while controlling the effect of the
extraneous variables.
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 Extraneous variables: These are the variables other

than the independent variables which influence the
response of test units to treatments.
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Examples: Store size, government policies,

temperature, food intake, geographical location, etc.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Validity in Experimentation
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Internal validity: Internal validity tries to examine

whether the observed effect on a dependent
variable is actually caused by the treatments
(independent variables) in question.
External validity: External validity refers to the
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generalization of the results of an experiment.

The concern is whether the result of an
experiment can be generalized beyond the
experimental situations.
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Factors Affecting Internal Validity

of the Experiment
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History
Maturation
Testing
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Instrumentation
Statistical regression
Selection bias
Test unit mortality
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Factors Affecting External Validity

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The environment at the time of test may be

different from the environment of the real world
where these results are to be generalized.
Population used for experimentation of the test
may not be similar to the population where the
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results of the experiments are to be applied.

Results obtained in a 5–6 week test may not hold
in an application of 12 months.
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Treatment at the time of the test may be different

from the treatment of the real world.

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Methods to Control Extraneous

Variables
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Randomization

Matching
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Use of experimental designs

Statistical control
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Environments of Conducting
Experiments
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Laboratory Environment - In a laboratory

experiment, the researcher conducts the
experiment in an artificial environment
constructed exclusively for the experiment.
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Field Environment - The field experiment is

conducted in actual market conditions. There is
no attempt to change the real-life nature of the
environment.
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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A Classification of Experimental
Designs
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Pre-experimental design
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Pre-experimental designs do not make use of any randomization

procedures to control the extraneous variables. Therefore, the
internal validity of such designs is questionable.

One-shot case study:

X O
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One-group pre-test–post-test design:

O 1 X O2
Static group comparison:
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Group 1 - X O1
Group 2 - O2

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Quasi-experimental designs
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In quasi-experimental design, the researcher can

control when measurements are taken and on whom
they are taken. However, this design lacks complete
control of scheduling of treatment and also lacks the
ability to randomize test units’ exposure to
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treatments.

Time series design:

O 1 O 2 O 3 O 4 X O 5 O 6 O7 O 8
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Contd…..

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Quasi-experimental designs
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Quasi-experimental designs
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Multiple time series design:

Experimental Group: O1 O2 O3 O4 X O5 O6 O7 O8
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Control Group: O′1 O′2 O′3 O′4 O′5 O′6 O′7 O′8
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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True experimental designs

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In true experimental designs, researchers can

randomly assign test units and treatments to an
experimental group. Here, the researcher is able to
eliminate the effect of extraneous variables from both
the experimental and control group.
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Pre-test–post-test control group:

Experimental Group: R O1 X O2
Control Group: R O3 O4
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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True experimental designs

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 Post-test – only control group design:

Experimental Group: R X O1
Control Group: R O2
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 Solomon four-group design:

Experimental Group 1 : R O1 X O2
Control Group 1: R O3 O4
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Experimental Group 2: R X O5
Control Group 2: R O6

RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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Statistical designs
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Statistical designs allow for statistical control and

analysis of external variables.
Completely randomized design
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Randomized block design

Latin square design

Factorial design
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND

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END OF CHAPTER
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RESEARCH CONCEPTS AND