Study

Design
Prepared by:
Dr Maram Ahmed Banakhar

Presented by: Prof Nabeela Al-Abdullah

 Table of contents

01 02 03
Characteristics of Experimental Non-
Quantitative designs experimental
Research Designs designs
 01
Characteristics of
Quantitative
Research Designs
Key Features of Quantitative
Research Design:
Interventions
● Key questions:
○ Will there be an intervention?

○ What specific design will be

used?
● Broad design options:
○ Experimental (randomized

control trial)
○ Quasi-experimental (controlled

trial without randomization)

○ Non-experimental (observational

study)
 Key Features of Quantitative Research Design:
Comparisons

• Key question:
– What type of comparisons will be made to illuminate
relationships?
• Some design options:
– Within-subjects design: Same people are compared at different
times or under different conditions.
– Between-subjects design: Different people are compared (e.g.,
men and women).
 Other Key Features of Quantitative
Research Design

• Control over confounds

– How will confounding variables be controlled?
– Which specific confounding variables will be controlled?
 Other Key Features of Quantitative
Research Design (cont.)
• Masking/blinding
– From whom will critical information be withheld to avert bias?
• Time frames
– How often will data be collected?
– When, relative to other events, will data be collected?
 Other Key Features of Quantitative
Research Design (cont.)

• Relative timing
– When will information on independent and dependent variables be
collected—looking forward or backward in time?
• Location
– Where will the study take place?
 Causality
• Many (if not most) quantitative
research questions are about
causes and effects.
• Research questions that seek to
illuminate causal relationships need
to be addressed with appropriate
designs.
 Criteria for Causality
• Three key criteria for making causal inferences:
– The cause must precede the effect in time.
– There must be a demonstrated association between
the cause and the effect.
– The relationship between the presumed cause and
effect cannot be explained by a third variable;
another factor related to both the presumed cause and
effect cannot be the “real” cause.
 Experimental Design
Intervention: The researcher does something to some
subjects—introduces an intervention (or treatment).
Control: The researcher introduces controls, including the
use of a control group counterfactual
 Characteristics of a True
Experiment
• Randomization (also called random assignment):
The researcher assigns subjects to groups at random.
– Typical assignment is to an experimental group
or a control group.
– The purpose is to make the groups equal with
regard to all other factors except receipt of the
intervention.
 Experimental Designs

• Posttest-only (or after-only) design

– Outcome data collected only after the intervention

R X O

R O

R = Randomization; X = Receipt of intervention; O =

Observation/measurement of dependent variable
 Experimental Designs (cont.)
• Pretest–posttest (before–after) design
– Outcome data collected both at baseline and after the
intervention

R O X O

R O O

R = Randomization; X = Receipt of intervention; O =

Observation/measurement of dependent variable
 Experimental Designs (cont.)
• Crossover design
– Subjects are exposed to 2+ conditions in random
order.
– Subjects serve as their own control.

R O XA O XB O

R O XB O XA O

R = Randomization; X = Receipt of intervention; O =

Observation/measurement of dependent variable
 Control Group Conditions
• No intervention is used; control group gets no treatment
at all.
• “Usual care”—standard or normal procedures used to treat
patients
• An alternative intervention is used (e.g., auditory vs.
visual stimulation).
• A placebo or pseudointervention, presumed to have no
therapeutic value, is used.
• A lower dose or intensity of treatment or only portions of
it are administered.
 Control Group Conditions (cont.)
• Delayed treatment (“wait-listed controls”)—the
intervention is given at a later date.

R O X O O

R O O X O

R = Randomization; X = Receipt of intervention; O =

Observation/measurement of dependent variable
Advantages and Disadvantages of Experiments

• Advantages—most powerful for detecting cause and effect

relationships
• Disadvantages—often not feasible or ethical, Hawthorne
effect (knowledge of being in a study may cause people to
change their behavior.), often expensive
Quasi-Experiments

• Involve an intervention but lack either randomization or

control group
• Two main categories of quasi-experimental designs:
– Nonequivalent control group designs
• Those getting the intervention are compared with a
nonrandomized comparison group.
– Within-subjects designs
• One group is studied before and after the intervention.
Nonequivalent Control Group Designs
• If preintervention data are gathered, then the comparability
of the experimental and comparison groups at the start of
the study can be examined.
– Nonequivalent control group pretest–posttest
design
O1 X O2

O1 O2

X = Receipt of intervention; O =
Observation/measurement of dependent variable
Nonequivalent Control Group Designs (cont.)
• Without preintervention data, it is risky to assume the groups
were similar at the outset.
– Nonequivalent control group posttest only is much
weaker.

X O1

O1

X = Receipt of intervention; O =
Observation/measurement of dependent variable
Within-Subjects Quasi-Experiments

• One-group pretest–posttest designs typically yield

extremely weak evidence of causal relationships.
O1 X O2
• Time series designs gather preintervention and
postintervention data over a longer period.
O1 O2 O3 O4 X O5 O6 O7 O8
Advantages and Disadvantages of Quasi-
Experiments

• May be easier and more practical than true experiments, but

– They make it more difficult to infer causality.
Nonexperimental Studies

• If researchers do not intervene by controlling independent

variable, the study is nonexperimental (observational).
• Not all independent variables (“causes”) of interest to nurse
researchers can be experimentally manipulated.
– For example, gender cannot ever be manipulated.
– Smoking cannot ethically be manipulated.
Types of Nonexperimental Studies

Correlational designs
• Cause-probing questions (e.g., prognosis or harm/etiology
questions) for which manipulation is not possible are typically
addressed with a correlational design.
• A correlation is an association between variables and can be
detected through statistical analysis.
Types of Nonexperimental Studies (cont.)

• In a prospective correlational design, a potential cause in

the present (e.g., experiencing vs. not experiencing a
miscarriage) is linked to a hypothesized later outcome (e.g.,
depression 6 months later).
• This is called a cohort study by medical researchers.
• Prospective designs are stronger than retrospective designs
in supporting causal inferences—but neither is as strong as
experimental designs.
Retrospective Designs

• In a retrospective correlational design, an outcome in the

present (e.g., depression) is linked to a hypothesized cause
occurring in the past (e.g., having had a miscarriage).
• One retrospective design is a case–control design in which
“cases” (e.g., those with lung cancer) are compared to
“controls” (e.g., those without lung cancer) on prior potential
causes (e.g., smoking habits).
Descriptive Research

• Not all research is cause probing.

• Some research is descriptive (e.g., ascertaining the
prevalence of a health problem).
• Other research is descriptive correlational—the purpose is
to describe whether variables are related, without ascribing a
cause-and-effect connection.
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Nonexperimental Research

• Observing the distribution of disease or health related events in

human population.
• Identify the characteristics with which the disease is associated.
• Basically 3 questions are asked when, where and who i.e. Time,
place and person distribution.
• Does not yield persuasive evidence for causal inferences, but
efficient way to collect large amounts of data when intervention
and/or randomization is not possible
Time Dimension in Research Design
• Cross-sectional design—Data are collected at a single point in
time. To assess the burden of disease in a population and to
assess the need for health services. To compare the prevalence
of disease in different populations. To examine trends in disease
prevalence or. severity over time.
• Longitudinal design—Data are collected two or more times
over an extended period.
– Follow-up studies
• Longitudinal designs are better at showing patterns of change
and at clarifying whether a cause occurred before an effect
(outcome).
• A challenge in longitudinal studies is attrition or the loss of
participants over time.
Research Questions and Research Design
 Thanks!
Do you have any questions?
[email protected]
 Refrences
● Gray. JR. (2017). Practice of Nursing Research. 8th edition. W.B. Saunders Co.
● Polit, D., & Beck, C. (2018). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice. 9th
ed. Lippincott. W& W: New York.