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Causal Research

Causal research uses experimental designs and manipulation of variables to determine cause-and-effect relationships. True experiments employ random assignment to control for extraneous variables, while quasi-experiments lack full experimental control. Statistical designs allow statistical analysis of multiple variables. Test marketing replicates a marketing program in a limited market to test a new product before national launch using standard, controlled, or simulated test markets.

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Vardaan Bhaik
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201 views23 pages

Causal Research

Causal research uses experimental designs and manipulation of variables to determine cause-and-effect relationships. True experiments employ random assignment to control for extraneous variables, while quasi-experiments lack full experimental control. Statistical designs allow statistical analysis of multiple variables. Test marketing replicates a marketing program in a limited market to test a new product before national launch using standard, controlled, or simulated test markets.

Uploaded by

Vardaan Bhaik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Causal Research

(Experimental Research)
Experimentation: Concept of causality

• Causality : Occurrence of a variable increases the


probability of occurrence of another variable

• Cause-Effect relationship between the variables can only be


inferred

• It is not possible to conclusively prove causality as effects are


caused by multiple variables and the relationships tend to be
probabilistic.
Conditions for Causality

• Concomitant variation is the extent to which a cause, X, and


an effect, Y, occur together or vary together in the way
predicted by the hypothesis under consideration.

• The time order of occurrence of variables condition states


that the causing event must occur either before or
simultaneously with the effect; it cannot occur afterwards

• The absence of other possible causal factors means that the


factor or variable being investigated should be the only
possible causal explanation
Definitions and Concepts
• Independent variables

• Dependent variables

• Test units

• Extraneous variables

• Control

• Experiment

• Experimental Group

• Control Group

• Confounded Relationship

• Treatment

• Experimental Design
Definitions and Concepts
• Control is the technical term, used to minimize effect of extraneous variables

• Experiment is the process of manipulating one or more independent variables


and measuring their effect on one or more dependent variables while
controlling extraneous variable

• Experimental Group is the group, exposed to special conditions

• Control Group is the group, exposed to normal conditions

• Confounded Relationship is the relationship that exists between independent


and dependent variables if it is not free from extraneous variables

• Treatment : Different conditions under which experimental and control groups


are placed

• Experimental Design is a set of experimental procedures specifying test units,


sampling procedures, independent variables, dependent variables and control
mechanism for extraneous variables
Validity in Experimentation

• Internal validity refers to whether the manipulation of the


independent variables or treatments actually caused the observed
effects on the dependent variables. Control of extraneous variables
is a necessary condition for establishing internal validity.

• External validity refers to whether the cause-and-effect


relationships found in the experiment can be generalized. It refers
to various populations, settings, times, independent variables and
dependent variables to which the results may be projected
Extraneous Variables: Categories
• History(H) refers to specific events that are external to the experiment but occur at
the same time as the experiment.

• Maturation (MA) refers to changes in the test units themselves that occur with the
passage of time.

• Testing effects are caused by the process of experimentation. These are the effects
on the experiment of taking a measure on the dependent variable before and after
the presentation of the treatment.

• Instrumentation (I) refers to changes in the measuring instrument, in the observers


or in the scores themselves.

• Selection bias (SB) refers to the improper assignment of test units to treatment
conditions.

• Mortality (MO) refers to the loss of test units while the experiment is in progress.
Causal Research : Concept
• Used to obtain evidence of cause & effect
relationships.

It is used :
1) To understand which variables are cause and which
are effect
2) To determine nature & degree of relationship
between variables
Causal Research: Basic Principle
• Principle of Replication

• Principle of Randomization
A Classification of Experimental Designs

• Pre-experimental designs

• True experimental designs

• Quasi-experimental designs

• Statistical design
Pre-experimental Designs

• Do not employ randomization procedures to control for extraneous factors

• One-shot case study (After only without control group)


X 01

• One-group pretest-posttest design( Before and after without control group)


01 X 02
Treatment Effect : 02 - 01

• Static-group design (After only with control group)


EG : X 01
CG : 02
Treatment Effect : 01 - 02

• Before and after with control group


EG : 01 X O2
CG : 03 04
Treatment Effect : (02- 01) - ( 04- 03 )
True Experimental Design
The researcher can randomly assign test units and treatments to
experimental groups

• Pretest-Posttest control group design


EG : R 01 X 02
CG : R 03 04
Treatment Effect : (02- 01) - ( 04- 03 )

• Posttest-only control group design


EG : R X 01
CG : R 02
Treatment Effect : (01- 02)
Quasi-Experimental Designs
• Full experimental control is lacking.
• A large no. of variables cant be controlled.
• There is lack of control on scheduling or random
assignment of test units
Statistical Designs
A series of basic experiments that allows for statistical control and analysis of
extraneous variables

 Completely Randomized Design


(to investigate effect of one independent variable)

 Randomized Block Design


(researcher blocks effect of one extraneous variable)

 Latin Square Design


(researcher blocks effect of two extraneous variables)

 Factorial Design
(allows interaction of variables)
High Price Medium price Low Price
S1 S2 S4
S5 S3 S6
S9 S7 S8
Avg sale (X1) Avg sale (X2) Avg Sale (X3)
High price Medium price Low price
Deptt store DS2 DS1 DS3
DS4 DS6 DS5
Discount store DiS1 DiS5 Dis4
DiS2 Dis3 Dis6
Speciality store SS4 SS6 SS1
SS3 SS2 SS5
1 2 3 4
X1 A B C D
X2 B A D C
X3 C D A B
X4 D C B A

Soil Fertility: X1,X2,X3,X4


Seed Type: 1,2,3,4
Manure Type: A,B,C,D
Test Marketing
• Standard Test Market

• Controlled Test Market

• Simulated Test Market


Test Marketing
• Test marketing is an application of a controlled experiment
done in a limited but carefully selected part of the
marketplace called test markets.

• It involves a replication of a planned national marketing


program for a product in the test markets. The three types of
test markets are:

– Standard test market


– Controlled test market
– Simulated test market
Standard Test Market:

The product is sold through regular


distribution channels and, typically, the
company’s own sales force is responsible for
distributing the product.

It involves a one-shot case study.


Controlled Test Market
The entire test marketing program is
conducted by an outside research company,
which also handles distribution and field sales
operations in the test market.
Simulated Test Market
These are also called laboratory tests and yield
mathematical estimates of market share
based on initial reaction of consumers to the
new product.
The main difference between a standard test market and a controlled test
market is that in a standard test market the company’s own employees are
responsible for the distribution of the product; whereas in a controlled
test market, the entire marketing program is conducted by an outside
research company.

In a simulated test market, respondents are intercepted in high-traffic


locations such as shopping malls and prescreened for product usage. The
selected individuals are exposed to the proposed new product concept
and given an opportunity to buy the new product in a real-life or
laboratory environment. Those who purchase the new product are
interviewed at a later date to determine their evaluation of the product
and repeat purchase intentions. The trial and repeat-purchase estimates
so generated are combined with data on proposed promotion and
distribution levels to obtain a projected share of the market.

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