Experimental Studies

Unlike a descriptive study, an experiment is a study in which a treatment, procedure, or program is intentionally introduced and a result or outcome is observed. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines an experiment as “A test under controlled conditions that is made to demonstrate a known truth, to examine the validity of a hypothesis, or to determine the efficacy of something previously untried.”

True experiments have four elements: manipulation , control , random assignment , and random selection . The most important of these elements are manipulation and control. Manipulation means that something is purposefully changed by the researcher in the environment. Control is used to prevent outside factors from influencing the study outcome. When something is manipulated and controlled and then the outcome happens, it makes us more confident that the manipulation “caused” the outcome. In addition, experiments involve highly controlled and systematic procedures in an effort to minimize error and bias which also increases our confidence that the manipulation “caused” the outcome.

Another key element of a true experiment is random assignment. Random assignment means that if there are groups or treatments in the experiment, participants are assigned to these groups or treatments, or randomly (like the flip of a coin). This means that no matter who the participant is, he/she has an equal chance of getting into all of the groups or treatments in an experiment. This process helps to ensure that the groups or treatments are similar at the beginning of the study so that there is more confidence that the manipulation (group or treatment) “caused” the outcome. More information about random assignment may be found in section Random assignment.

Case example of an experiment

                               

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