Alternatives to Experimentation in Research

Alternatives to Experimentation

• Not all data can be gathered experimentally due to limitations such as:
  • Antecedent conditions that cannot be applied or created
  • Ethical reasons that prevent the creation of experimental studies
  • The desire to study behaviors as they occur naturally

External Validity

• Refers to the generalizability or applicability of research findings to people and situations outside the research setting
• High external validity means that observations can be generalized to other settings and people
• "What we gain in external validity we might lose in internal validity."

Nonexperimental Approaches

• Used in situations where an experiment is not practical or desirable
• Include:
  • Existing real-life situations
  • Natural setting
  • Rare occurrences
  • Sample personal information
• Each of these approaches can provide useful data

Internal and External Validity

• Internal Validity: the degree to which research design allows for making causal statements
• High internal validity means that changes in behavior observed across treatment conditions were caused by differences in treatments

Dimensions of Research Approaches

• According to Willems (1969), research approaches can be described along two major dimensions:
  • The degree of manipulation of antecedent conditions
  • The degree of imposition of units
• Each dimension has pros and cons

Phenomenological Study

• Example: "Purkinje Folk Medicine in the Philippines: A Phenomenological Study of Health-Seeking Individuals"
• Aims to describe an individual's immediate experience
• Begins with personal experience as a source of data

Case Study

• A descriptive record of a single individual's experience, behavior, or both
• Kept by an outside observer
• Serves five major purposes:
  • Source of inferences, hypotheses, and theories
  • Source for developing therapy techniques
  • Allows the study of rare phenomena
  • ...

Five Common Nonexperimental Approaches

• Phenomenology
• Case Studies
• Field Studies
• Archival Studies
• Qualitative Studies