Experimental, Quasi-experimental, and Non-experimental Research

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February 6, 2020
The lack of knowledge on a particular subject paved a way to the birth of research. Humanity benefited from research through the cultivation of one's knowledge and skills through the analysis of the results from the information gathered by the researchers. The diversity of subject matters requires distinct types of research designs depending on the primary and secondary objectives of the study. Research designs can be divided depending on the data of interest, whether the data are quantitative or qualitative (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
Most medically-inclined research papers are randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or experimental research. RCTs intend to lessen the amount of error since most of these studies benefit from human beings. RCTs evaluate the efficacy of drugs, interventions, the latest medical technologies, and patents for vaccines. This study is a quantitative research that requires the use of randomization of the sample through the use of a traditional method like the fishbowl method, or electronic method. It also has a control group, the group that does not receive any intervention or receives a placebo, and an experimental group, that receives an intervention. Ideally, RCTs are blinded (single-blinded or double-blinded), meaning, there are people involved in the experiment that do not know any data. These factors significantly minimize errors and biases in a study. Thus, making RCTs the gold standard for clinical trials (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).
The study by Collins et al. (2020) is an experimental research that concerns the benefits of children in reducing their exposure to tobacco smoke, whether prenatally or postnatally. This study utilized the appropriate study design since the population was randomized and assigned to a control group and an experimental group that received the Family Rules for Establishing Smokefree Homes (FRESH) protocol. Furthermore, the data were quantitative (ratio and interval) in nature, which proved that the correct design was used (Collins et al., 2020).
Another type of quantitative research is quasi-experimental research...