Quasi-Experimental

Research Designs
Jessie Byrd, Kara McNamara, Nicole Simpson
Agenda
1. Review Experimental Designs
2. Introduce Quasi-Experimental Designs
3. Types of Quasi-Experimental Designs
4. Activity!
5. Benefits and Limitations
6. Application
Experimental Designs
● Independent Variables
○ Manipulated by the experimenter

● Dependent Variables

● Experimental Groups and Control Groups

● Important factors:
○ Random assignment!
○ Cause-and-effect
 Random Assignment
● A random process categorizes participants into groups
○ Drawing names from a hat, using a number generator, etc
○ Usually places participants into a control group and a treatment group
● Decreases bias and strengthens the relationship between independent and
dependent variables

So what about when participants can’t (or shouldn’t)

be randomly assigned to conditions?
Quasi-Experimental Research Designs
● Many interesting social variables cannot be experimentally manipulated
or controlled
● These uncontrollable variables include characteristics or behaviors
○ Age, race, gender, spanking children, grade level, homeschooling…
★ Quasi-experimental designs compare groups that already exist in
a population
● Often conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment - generally
psychotherapy or educational intervention :)
● “Quasi” = resembling
 Experiments explore a CAUSE
Quasi-experimental designs COMPARE
Example:
Quasi-Experimental Research Design

A school counselor wants to explore the effects of a

year-long mindfulness classroom guidance intervention on
anxiety and stress levels among 5th grade students.
 I: One-Group Posttest-Only Design

Single
IV Posttest
Group
EXAMPLE:
One-Group Posttest-Only Design
The school counselor wants to know the effects on all 5th grade students’
(single group) stress and anxiety levels after a recent year-long
mindfulness classroom guidance intervention (independent variable). At
the end of the year, the school counselor assesses anxiety and stress levels
(posttest) for all 5th grade students.
 II: One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design

Single IV Posttest
Pretest
Group
EXAMPLE:
One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design
At the beginning of the year, the school counselor assesses all 5th grade
students’ (single group) anxiety and stress levels prior to delivering the
year-long mindfulness classroom guidance intervention (pretest). The
school counselor then delivers the year-long mindfulness classroom
guidance intervention (independent variable) to the entire fifth grade. At
the end of the year, the school counselor assesses anxiety and stress levels
for all 5th grade students (posttest). These posttest results are compared
to anxiety and stress levels for all 5th grade students as reported by the
pretest.
III: Nonequivalent Control Group Design

Group 1 IV Posttest

Group 2 Posttest
EXAMPLE:
Nonequivalent Control Group Design
The school counselor wants to explore the effects of year-long
mindfulness classroom guidance on anxiety and stress levels among 5th
grade students. The school counselor selects three of the six 5th grade
classes (Group 1) to receive the intervention (independent variable). The
remaining three 5th grade classes (Group 2) do not receive the
intervention. At the end of the year, the school counselor assesses anxiety
and stress levels (posttest) among all 5th grade students. Posttest results
would be compared for the 5th grade students who received the
intervention and those who did not.
 IV: Nonequivalent Control Group
Pretest-Posttest Design

Group 1 Pretest IV Posttest

Group 2 Pretest Posttest

 EXAMPLE:
Nonequivalent Control Group Pretest- Posttest
Design
The school counselor wants to explore the effects of year-long mindfulness
classroom guidance on anxiety and stress levels in 5th grade boys (Group 1) and 5th
grade girls (Group 2). At the beginning of the year, the school counselor assess
anxiety and stress levels for all 5th grade students prior to delivering the
intervention (pretest). The counselor delivers the year-long mindfulness classroom
guidance intervention to all students in the 5th grade (independent variable). At the
end of the year, the school counselor assesses anxiety and stress levels (posttest)
among all 5th grade students. Effects of the intervention (via comparisons of pre-
and posttest results for both 5th grade boys and 5th grade girls) would be compared
for 5th grade boys versus 5th grade girls.
Matching Activity!
Benefits Limitations
● Eliminates possibility of finding a
● Easily implemented
causal relationship between two
● Useful for studying social variables
variables
● Useful when variables cannot be
● Internal validity significantly
manipulated due to ethical
affected
considerations
● Threat of confounding variables
● Increased real-world applicability
● Less time, resources than
experiments
● Cost effective
Application

● How do you see quasi-experimental designs being used in your school?

● If you have used a quasi-experimental design, please share how you
conducted your research.
Resources
Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research
- Explanation of quasi-experimental research designs, as well as practice activities and videos
(Enter without an account)

Psychology: Quasi-Experimental Design

- Definition and exploration of quasi-experimental designs

Open Textbooks: Quasi-Experimental Research

- Types of quasi-experimental designs