In quasi-experimental designs, the researcher does not have experimental control

Question

In quasi-experimental designs, the researcher does not have experimental control over the independent variable and does not randomly assign participants to conditions. This results in which of the following?

a. The researcher being unable to rule out any threats to internal validity

b. A study that is no different than a correlational design

c. A weaker causal claim than a true experiment

d. An unethical study

a. The researcher being unable to rule out any threats to internal validity

b. A study that is no different than a correlational design

c. A weaker causal claim than a true experiment

d. An unethical study

Explanation / Answer

Ans. (b)

In quasi-experimental research since the participants are not randomly assigned, one cannot eliminate the problem of confounding variables. So, in terms of internal validity, quasi-experiments can be placed somewhere between correlational studies and true experiments. Most commonly quasi-experimental research is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment.

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