CONTENTS

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH.......................................................................................................................... 2
Experimental Research Example .............................................................................................................. 3
Characteristics Of Experimental Research Design ........................................................................................ 3
Importance of Experimental Research .......................................................................................................... 4
Advantages and disadvantages of experimental research ............................................................................. 4
Advantages of experimental research ....................................................................................................... 4
Disadvantages of experimental research .................................................................................................. 5
Types of experimental research designs ....................................................................................................... 5
PRE-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN .................................................................................................................... 5
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN ................................................................................................................ 6
TRUE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN .................................................................................................................. 7
OTHER TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH .............................................................................................. 7
Steps in experimental research .................................................................................................................... 8
Step 1: Define your variables .................................................................................................................... 8
Step 2: Write your hypothesis ................................................................................................................... 9
Step 3: Design your experimental treatments .......................................................................................... 10
Step 4: Assign your subjects to treatment groups .................................................................................... 10
Step 5: Measure your dependent variable ............................................................................................... 12

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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Experiments are used to study causal relationships. You manipulate one or more independent variables and
measure their effect on one or more dependent variables.

Experimental design creates a set of procedures to systematically test a hypothesis. A good experimental
design requires a strong understanding of the system you are studying.

Experimental research is a form of comparative analysis in which you study two or more variables and
observe a group under a certain condition or groups experiencing different conditions. By assessing the
results of this type of study, you can determine correlations between the variables applied and their effects
on each group. Experimental research uses the scientific method to find preferable ways of accomplishing
a task for providing a service.

Experimental research is a test of which marketing strategy is most likely to work. But rather than guesswork,
it uses real data from experiments.

Experimental research involves making hypotheses about what marketing activity is likely to appeal to
customers and collecting data to see if it is true.

There are five key steps in designing an experiment:

1. Consider your variables and how they are related
2. Write a specific, testable hypothesis
3. Design experimental treatments to manipulate your independent variable
4. Assign subjects to groups, either between-subjects or within-subjects
5. Plan how you will measure your dependent variable

One key feature of experimental research is that it explores the relationship between independent and
dependent variables.

• Independent variables are variables that do not depend on other variables.

• Dependent variables are variables that change as independent variables change.

In experimental research, the independent variable is the cause and the dependent variable is the effect. As
a marketer, you can influence the cause to observe changes in the effect, but not the other way around. The
effect can only be tested or measured.

This is why experimental research is so powerful. It not only allows you to see the immediate results of a
marketing decision but also manipulates the cause to influence the result.

Table 1. Independent and dependent variables

Types of variables Independent Dependent

Can the variable be manipulated or controlled by the researcher? Yes No
Does the variable cause an outcome? Yes No
Is the variable a result of another variable? No Yes

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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH EXAMPLE

Examples of experimental research

When one does experimental research, that experiment can be about anything. As the variables and
environments can be controlled by the researcher, it is possible to have experiments about pretty much any
subject. It is especially crucial that it gives critical insight into the cause-and-effect relationships of various
elements. Now let us see some important examples of experimental research:

An example of experimental research in science:

When scientists make new medicines or come up with a new type of treatment, they have to test those
thoroughly to make sure the results will be unanimous and effective for every individual. In order to make
sure of this, they can test the medicine on different people or creatures in different dosages and in different
frequencies. They can double-check all the results and have crystal clear results.

An example of experimental research in marketing:

The ideal goal of a marketing product, advertisement, or campaign is to attract attention and create positive
emotions in the target audience. Marketers can focus on different elements in different campaigns, change
the packaging/outline, and have a different approach. Only then can they be sure about the effectiveness of
their approaches. Some methods they can work with are A/B testing, online surveys, or focus groups.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN

The hypothesis is at the core of an experimental research design. Researchers propose a tentative answer
after defining the problem and then test the hypothesis to either confirm or disregard it. Here are a few
characteristics of experimental research:

• Dependent variables are manipulated or treated while independent variables are exerted on
dependent variables as an experimental treatment. Extraneous variables are variables generated
from other factors that can affect the experiment and contribute to change. Researchers have to
exercise control to reduce the influence of these variables by randomization, making homogeneous
groups and applying statistical analysis techniques.
• Researchers deliberately operate independent variables on the subject of the experiment. This is
known as manipulation.
• Once a variable is manipulated, researchers observe the effect an independent variable has on a
dependent variable. This is key for interpreting results.
• A researcher may want multiple comparisons between different groups with equivalent subjects.
They may replicate the process by conducting sub-experiments within the framework of the
experimental design.

Experimental research is equally effective in non-laboratory settings as it is in labs. It helps in predicting

events in an experimental setting. It generalizes variable relationships so that they can be implemented
outside the experiment and applied to a wider interest group.

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IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

▪ Establishing Cause-and-Effect Relationships: Experimental research allows researchers to establish

causal relationships between variables by systematically manipulating independent variables and
observing their effects on dependent variables. This provides valuable insights into the underlying
mechanisms driving phenomena and informs theory development.

▪ Testing Hypotheses and Making Predictions: Experimental research provides a structured framework
for testing hypotheses and predicting the relationship between variables. By systematically manipulating
variables and controlling for confounding factors, researchers can empirically test the validity of their
hypotheses and refine theoretical models.

▪ Informing Evidence-Based Practice: Experimental research generates empirical evidence that informs
evidence-based practice in various fields, including healthcare, education, and business. Experimental
research contributes to improving outcomes and informing decision-making in real-world settings by
identifying effective interventions, treatments, and strategies.

▪ Driving Innovation and Advancement: Experimental research drives innovation and advancement by
uncovering new insights, challenging existing assumptions, and pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
Through rigorous experimentation and empirical validation, researchers can develop novel solutions to
complex problems and contribute to the advancement of science and technology.

▪ Enhancing Research Rigor and Validity: Experimental research upholds high research rigor and
validity standards by employing systematic methods, controlling for confounding variables, and ensuring
replicability of findings. By adhering to rigorous methodology and ethical principles, experimental
research produces reliable and credible evidence that withstands scrutiny and contributes to the
cumulative body of knowledge.

Experimental research plays a pivotal role in advancing scientific understanding, informing evidence-based
practice, and driving innovation across various disciplines. By systematically testing hypotheses, establishing
causal relationships, and generating empirical evidence, experimental research contributes to the collective
pursuit of knowledge and the improvement of society.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Just as with any other study, experimental research also has its positive and negative sides. It is up to the
researchers to be mindful of these facts before starting their studies. Let us see some advantages and
disadvantages of experimental research:

ADVANTAGES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

▪ All the variables are in the researchers’ control, and that means the researcher can influence the
experiment according to the research question’s requirements.

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▪ As you can easily control the variables in the experiment, you can specify the results as much as
possible.
▪ The results of the study identify a cause-and-effect relation.
▪ The results can be as specific as the researcher wants.
▪ The result of an experimental design opens the doors for future related studies.

DISADVANTAGES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

▪ Completing an experiment may take years and even decades, so the results will not be as immediate
as some of the other research types.
▪ As it involves many steps, participants, and researchers, it may be too expensive for some groups.
▪ The possibility of researchers making mistakes and having a bias is high. It is important to stay impartial
▪ Human behavior and responses can be difficult to measure unless it is specifically experimental
research in psychology.

TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

There is more than one dividing point in experimental research designs that differentiates them from one
another. These differences are about whether there are pre-tests or post-tests done and how the participants
are divided into groups. These differences decide which experimental research design is used.

PRE-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

This is the most basic method of experimental study. The researcher doing pre-experimental research
evaluates a group of dependent variables after changing the independent variables. The results of this
scientific method are not satisfactory, and future studies are planned accordingly. The pre-experimental
research can be divided into three types:

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ONE SHOT CASE STUDY RESEARCH DESIGN

Only one variable is considered in this one-shot case study design. This research method is conducted in
the post-test part of a study, and the aim is to observe the changes in the effect of the independent variable.

ONE GROUP PRE-TEST POST-TEST RESEARCH DESIGN

In this type of research, a single group is given a pre-test before a study is conducted and a post-test after
the study is conducted. The aim of this one-group pre-test post-test research design is to combine and
compare the data collected during these tests.

STATIC-GROUP COMPARISON

In a static group comparison, 2 or more groups are included in a study where only a group of participants is
subjected to a new treatment and the other group of participants is held static. After the study is done, both
groups do a post-test evaluation, and the changes are seen as results.

QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

This research type is quite similar to the experimental design; however, it changes in a few aspects. Quasi-
experimental research is done when experimentation is needed for accurate data, but it is not possible to do
one because of some limitations. Because you can not deliberately deprive someone of medical treatment
or give someone harm, some experiments are ethically impossible. In this experimentation method, the
researcher can only manipulate some variables. There are three types of quasi-experimental design:

NONEQUIVALENT GROUP DESIGNS

A nonequivalent group design is used when participants can not be divided equally and randomly for ethical
reasons. Because of this, different variables will be more than one, unlike true experimental research.

REGRESSION DISCONTINUITY

In this type of research design, the researcher does not divide a group into two to make a study, instead,
they make use of a natural threshold or pre-existing dividing point. Only participants below or above the
threshold get the treatment, and as the divide is minimal, the difference would be minimal as well.

NATURAL EXPERIMENTS

In natural experiments, random or irregular assignment of patients makes up control and study groups. And
they exist in natural scenarios. Because of this reason, they do not qualify as true experiments as they are
based on observation.

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TRUE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

In true experimental research, the variables, groups, and settings should be identical to the textbook
definition. Grouping of the participant are divided randomly, and controlled variables are chosen carefully.
Every aspect of a true experiment should be carefully designed and acted out. And only the results of a
true experiment can really be fully accurate. A true experimental design can be divided into 3 parts:

POST-TEST ONLY CONTROL GROUP DESIGN

In this experimental design, the participants are divided into two groups randomly. They are called
experimental and control groups. Only the experimental group gets the treatment, while the other one does
not. After the experiment and observation, both groups are given a post-test, and a conclusion is drawn from
the results.

PRE-TEST POST-TEST CONTROL GROUP

In this method, the participants are divided into two groups once again. Also, only the experimental group
gets the treatment. And this time, they are given both pre-tests and post-tests with multiple research methods.
Thanks to these multiple tests, the researchers can make sure the changes in the experimental group are
directly related to the treatment.

SOLOMON FOUR-GROUP DESIGN

This is the most comprehensive method of experimentation. The participants are randomly divided into 4
groups. These four groups include all possible permutations by including both control and non-control groups
and post-test or pre-test and post-test control groups. This method enhances the quality of the data.

OTHER TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

When it comes to experimental research, there are three main types: controlled, manipulated, and random.

▪ Controlled experimental research - Research where all outside factors are kept constant. Only the
measured variable is changed. For example, a hamburger store changes its packaging while keeping
everything else (ingredients, flavor, etc.) the same to observe the effect of the new packaging on sales.

▪ Manipulated experimental research - Research where you can change the independent variable to
measure the effect on the dependent variable. For instance, a bakery changes the amount of flour in
bread and sees how customers respond.

▪ Random experimental research - A combination of the above two. For example, you add a new drink
to the menu of all coffee stores you own, with everything remaining the same. If you randomly check a
store, you will see that the sales may go up or down depending on the location.

The experimental research method may be different, but the idea is always the same, to find out the strategy
that helps the business improve its performance.

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STEPS IN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

1. Step 1: Define your variables

2. Step 2: Write your hypothesis
3. Step 3: Design your experimental treatments
4. Step 4: Assign your subjects to treatment groups
5. Step 5: Measure your dependent variable
6. Other interesting articles
7. Frequently asked questions about experiments

STEP 1: DEFINE YOUR VARIABLES

You should begin with a specific research question. We will work with two research question examples, one
from health sciences and one from ecology:

Example question 1: Phone use and sleepYou want to know how phone use before bedtime affects sleep
patterns. Specifically, you ask how the number of minutes a person uses their phone before sleep affects the
number of hours they sleep.

Example question 2: Temperature and soil respirationYou want to know how temperature affects soil
respiration. Specifically, you ask how increased air temperature near the soil surface affects the amount of
carbon dioxide (CO2) respired from the soil.

To translate your research question into an experimental hypothesis, you need to define the main variables
and make predictions about how they are related.

Start by simply listing the independent and dependent variables.

Research question Independent variable Dependent variable

Phone use and sleep Minutes of phone use before sleep Hours of sleep per night
Temperature and soil Air temperature just above the soil CO2 respired from soil
respiration surface

Then you need to think about possible extraneous and confounding variables and consider how you
might control them in your experiment.

Extraneous variable How to control

Phone use and sleep Natural variation in Control statistically: measure the average
sleep patterns among difference between sleep with phone use and
individuals. sleep without phone use rather than the
average amount of sleep per treatment group.
Temperature and soil Soil moisture also Control experimentally: monitor soil moisture
respiration affects respiration, and and add water to make sure that soil moisture
moisture can decrease is consistent across all treatment plots.

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 Extraneous variable How to control
with increasing
temperature.

Finally, you can put these variables together into a diagram. Use arrows to show the possible relationships
between variables and include signs to show the expected direction of the relationships.

Here we predict that the amount of phone use will have a negative effect on hours of sleep, and predict an
unknown influence of natural variation on hours of sleep.

Here we predict that increasing temperature will increase soil respiration and decrease soil moisture, while
decreasing soil moisture will lead to decreased soil respiration.

STEP 2: WRITE YOUR HYPOTHESIS

Now that you have a strong conceptual understanding of the system you are studying, you should be able
to write a specific, testable hypothesis that addresses your research question.

Null hypothesis (H0) Alternate hypothesis (H1)

Phone use and sleep Phone use before sleep does not Increasing phone use before sleep
correlate with the amount of sleep a leads to a decrease in sleep.
person gets.

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 Null hypothesis (H0) Alternate hypothesis (H1)
Temperature and soil Air temperature does not correlate Increased air temperature leads to
respiration with soil respiration. increased soil respiration.

The next steps will describe how to design a controlled experiment. In a controlled experiment, you must
be able to:

• Systematically and precisely manipulate the independent variable(s).

• Precisely measure the dependent variable(s).
• Control any potential confounding variables.

If your study system doesn’t match these criteria, there are other types of research you can use to answer
your research question.

STEP 3: DESIGN YOUR EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS

How you manipulate the independent variable can affect the experiment’s external validity – that is, the extent
to which the results can be generalized and applied to the broader world.

First, you may need to decide how widely to vary your independent variable.

Soil-warming experiment.

You can choose to increase air temperature:

• just slightly above the natural range for your study region.
• over a wider range of temperatures to mimic future warming.
• over an extreme range that is beyond any possible natural variation.

Second, you may need to choose how finely to vary your independent variable. Sometimes this choice is
made for you by your experimental system, but often you will need to decide, and this will affect how much
you can infer from your results.

Phone-use experiment

You can choose to treat phone use as:

• a categorical variable: either as binary (yes/no) or as levels of a factor (no phone use, low phone
use, high phone use).
• a continuous variable (minutes of phone use measured every night).

STEP 4: ASSIGN YOUR SUBJECTS TO TREATMENT GROUPS

How you apply your experimental treatments to your test subjects is crucial for obtaining valid and
reliable results.

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First, you need to consider the study size: how many individuals will be included in the experiment? In
general, the more subjects you include, the greater your experiment’s statistical power, which determines
how much confidence you can have in your results.

Then you need to randomly assign your subjects to treatment groups. Each group receives a different level
of the treatment (e.g. no phone use, low phone use, high phone use).

You should also include a control group, which receives no treatment. The control group tells us what would
have happened to your test subjects without any experimental intervention.

When assigning your subjects to groups, there are two main choices you need to make:
1. A completely randomized design vs a randomized block design.
2. A between-subjects design vs a within-subjects design.

Randomization

An experiment can be completely randomized or randomized within blocks (aka strata):

• In a completely randomized design, every subject is assigned to a treatment group at random.
• In a randomized block design (aka stratified random design), subjects are first grouped according
to a characteristic they share, and then randomly assigned to treatments within those groups.

Completely randomized design Randomized block design

Phone use and sleep Subjects are all randomly assigned a Subjects are first grouped by age,
level of phone use using a random and then phone use treatments
number generator. are randomly assigned within
these groups.
Temperature and soil Warming treatments are assigned to Soils are first grouped by average
respiration soil plots at random by using a number rainfall, and then treatment plots
generator to generate map are randomly assigned within
coordinates within the study area. these groups.

Sometimes randomization isn’t practical or ethical, so researchers create partially-random or even non-
random designs. An experimental design where treatments aren’t randomly assigned is called a quasi-
experimental design.

Between-subjects vs. within-subjects

In a between-subjects design (also known as an independent measures design or classic ANOVA design),
individuals receive only one of the possible levels of an experimental treatment.

In medical or social research, you might also use matched pairs within your between-subjects design to
make sure that each treatment group contains the same variety of test subjects in the same proportions.

In a within-subjects design (also known as a repeated measures design), every individual receives each
of the experimental treatments consecutively, and their responses to each treatment are measured.

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Within-subjects or repeated measures can also refer to an experimental design where an effect emerges
over time, and individual responses are measured over time in order to measure this effect as it emerges.

Counterbalancing (randomizing or reversing the order of treatments among subjects) is often used in within-
subjects designs to ensure that the order of treatment application doesn’t influence the results of the
experiment.

Between-subjects (independent Within-subjects (repeated

measures) design measures) design
Phone use and sleep Subjects are randomly assigned a Subjects are assigned consecutively
level of phone use (none, low, or to zero, low, and high levels of
high) and follow that level of phone
phone use throughout the
use throughout the experiment. experiment, and the order in which
they follow these treatments is
randomized.
Temperature and soil Warming treatments are assigned to Every plot receives each warming
respiration soil plots at random and the soils treatment (1, 3, 5, 8, and 10C above
are kept at this temperature ambient temperatures)
throughout the experiment. consecutively over the course of the
experiment, and the order in which
they receive these treatments is
randomized.

STEP 5: MEASURE YOUR DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Finally, you need to decide how you’ll collect data on your dependent variable outcomes. You should aim
for reliable and valid measurements that minimize research bias or error.

Some variables, like temperature, can be objectively measured with scientific instruments. Others may need
to be operationalized to turn them into measurable observations.

Phone use experimenting

Your experiment about phone use and sleep, you could measure your dependent variable in one of two ways:
• Ask participants to record what time they go to sleep and get up each day.
• Ask participants to wear a sleep tracker.

How precisely you measure your dependent variable also affects the kinds of statistical analysis you can use
on your data.

Experiments are always context-dependent, and a good experimental design will take into account all of the
unique considerations of your study system to produce information that is both valid and relevant to your
research question.

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