What is a Quasi-experiment?

For slide: Quasi-experiments are studies that aim to evaluate interventions but that do not use
randomization.

(A type of research design where comparison is made, as in an experiment between the treatment
group and control group, but do not use randomization instead, subjects are assigned to groups based
on non-random criteria.)

(Like a true experiment, a quasi-experimental design aims to establish a cause-and-effect relationship

between an independent and dependent variable. However, unlike a true experiment, a quasi-
experiment does not rely on random assignment. Instead, subjects are assigned to groups based on non-
random criteria.)

When to use quasi-experimental design?

 Ethical: Sometimes it would be unethical to provide or withhold a treatment on a random basis,

so a true experiment is not feasible.
 Practical:
True experimental design may be infeasible to implement or simply too expensive, particularly
for researchers without access to large funding streams. Quasi-experimental designs allows the
researcher to study the question by taking advantage of data that has previously been paid for
or collected by others.

Quasi-experiments are commonly used in social sciences, public health, education, and policy analysis,
especially when it is not practical or reasonable to randomize study participants to the treatment
condition.

Advantages:
Higher external validity: Because they often involve real-world interventions instead of artificial
laboratory settings.
Higher internal validity: Because they allow better control for confounding variables than other types of
studies do.
Disadvantages:
Lower internal validity: Because without randomization, it can be difficult to verify that all confounding
variables have been accounted for.
The use of retrospective data: retrospective data that has already been collected for other purposes can
be inaccurate, incomplete or difficult to access.