Research - DR - Ali - Lec

Faculty of Nursing Research Methods – Lec.
(6)
.Postgraduate Student – MSc
Experimental
Design
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali Abdulzahra Mahdi

Ph.D. - Physiology
Study Design
 In an experiment, researchers are active agents, not passive
observers.
 Scientists study phenomena in a laboratory and controlling the
conditions under which they occurred.
 The procedures developed by physical scientists were adopted
by biologists during the 19th century, resulting in many
achievements in physiology and medicine.
 The 20th century has witnessed the use of experimental methods
by researchers interested in human behavior.
True Experimental Designs
A true experimental design has three criteria:

1. The researcher manipulates the
experimental variable(s).
2. At least one experimental and one
comparison group are included in the study.
3. Subjects are randomly assigned to either the
experimental or the comparison group.
Causality
Researchers usually design quasi-experimental

and experimental studies to examine causality or
the effect of an intervention (independent variable)
on a selected outcome (dependent variable), using
a design that controls extraneous variables .
Bias
 The term bias means a slant or deviation from

the true or expected. Quasi-experimental and
experimental designs were developed to
reduce the possibility and effects of bias .
 Many factors related to research can be
biased; these include attitudes of the

researcher , environment of the study,
method of the sampling, measurement
methods, data collection process, and
Control Group
The term control group refers to a group of

subjects whose performance on a dependent
variable is used to evaluate the performance of the
experimental group or treatment group (the group
that receives the intervention) on the same
dependent variable .
after-only design or
posttest-only design
One data collection point after the (after-only)

intervention; not appropriate for measuring
change
Example
posttest-only design
 Milne (2000) used a posttest-only design to

study the effect of an educational intervention
relating to urinary incontinence on the
subsequent help-seeking behavior of older
adults. One group received individualized
instruction and written information, and the
other received written information alone. Two
months later, Milne determined how many
subjects in each group sought professional help
for urinary incontinence.
Before—after design or
Pretest—posttest design
Data collection both before (before–after) and

after the intervention; appropriate for measuring
change; can determine differences between
groups (experimental) and change within
groups (quasi- experimental)
Example
.pretest—posttest design
Sandgren, McCaul, King, O’Donnell, and Foreman

(2000) conducted an experiment to test the effectiveness
of a cognitive-behavioral telephone therapy intervention
for patients with breast cancer. Women in the study
were randomly assigned to the intervention or to a
control group. Measures of the dependent variables
(e.g., psychological distress, coping, and quality of life)
were measured at baseline and at follow-up, and
changes over time were determined.
Solomon four-group
 Data collection before and after subjects the
intervention for one experimental and one
control group, but after only for a second
experimental and control group, to assess
pretest effects
Solomon four-group
 Swanson (1999) used a Solomon four-group
design in her study of the effects of a caring-
based counseling intervention on the emotional
wellbeing of women who had had a miscarriage.
Swanson adopted this design because of a
concern that “the potential existed that
participating in a longitudinal control group with
early focused attention on loss might, in itself,
serve as a form of recognition, support, and
validation” (p. 290).
??Why
 Experimental research is considered the most
powerful quantitative method because of the
rigorous control of variables .
 Experimental studies usually are conducted in
highly controlled settings, such as laboratories or

research units in clinical agencies .
Quasi-Experimental
Designs
 Quasi means “like,” and so quasi-
experimental designs are like experimental
ones, but not equivalent to them .
 Quasi-experiments are not as powerful as
experiments in establishing causal

connections between interventions and
outcomes .
Quasi-Experimental
Designs
 Most studies with quasi-experimental
designs have samples that were not assigned
randomly and there is less control of the
study intervention, extraneous variables, and
setting .
nonequivalent control group pretest -
posttest design
It is identical experimental design except
that subjects have not been randomly
assigned to experimental and comparison
groups .
nonequivalent control group pretest - posttest design
Example of a nonequivalent control
group pretest - posttest design
 Johnson, Budz, Mackay, and Miller (1999)
evaluated the effect of a nurse-delivered smoking
cessation intervention on smoking status and
smoking self efficacy among patients hospitalized
with cardiac disease. Experimental subjects were
admitted to one cardiac unit, and comparison
subjects were admitted to another. The researchers
preferred this approach to randomization within
units because information sharing among patients
in the same unit could have contaminated
treatment conditions.
Nonequivalent control group
posttest design
 This design is used in situations in which a pretest
is not possible. For example, if the researcher is
examining differences in the amount of pain a
subject feels during a painful procedure, and a
nursing intervention is used to reduce pain for
subjects in the experimental group, it might not be
possible (or meaningful) to pretest the amount of
pain before the procedure .
Discussion
 In the real world, it may be difficult, if not
impossible, to conduct true experiments

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Faculty of Nursing Research Methods – Lec.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali Abdulzahra Mahdi

A true experimental design has three criteria:

Researchers usually design quasi-experimental

 The term bias means a slant or deviation from

biased; these include attitudes of the

The term control group refers to a group of

One data collection point after the (after-only)

 Milne (2000) used a posttest-only design to

Data collection both before (before–after) and

Sandgren, McCaul, King, O’Donnell, and Foreman

highly controlled settings, such as laboratories or

experiments in establishing causal

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