Quasi Experimental

The prefix quasi means “resembling.” Thus

quasi-experimental research is research that
resembles experimental research but is not
true experimental research.
Quasi-experiment is simply defined as not a true
experiment. Since the main component of a true
experiment is randomly assigned groups, this
means a quasi-experiment does not have randomly
assigned groups.
Quasi-experiments are most likely to be conducted in
field settings in which random assignment is difficult or
impossible. They are often conducted to evaluate the
effectiveness of a treatment—perhaps a type of
psychotherapy or an educational intervention.
 Non- is a between-subjects design in which
equivalent participants have not been randomly
group
assigned to conditions.
design

Quasi
Experimen
t
A time series is a set of
Interrupte Pre test- the dependent variable is
d Time measured once before the
measurements taken at
Series Post test treatment is implemented and
intervals over a period
of time. Design Design once after it is implemented
For example
A researcher who wants to evaluate a new method of teaching
fractions to third graders. One way would be to conduct a study with a
treatment group consisting of one class of third-grade students and a
control group consisting of another class of third-grade students. This
design would be a non-equivalent groups design because the students
are not randomly assigned to classes by the researcher, which means
there could be important differences between them.
Eg…

For example, the parents of higher achieving or more motivated

students might have been more likely to request that their children be
assigned to Ms. Williams’s class. Or the principal might have assigned
the “troublemakers” to Mr. Jones’s class because he is a stronger
disciplinarian.
 For example

• A researcher who is interested in the effectiveness of an antidrug education program

on elementary school students’ attitudes toward illegal drugs. The researcher could
measure the attitudes of students at a particular elementary school during one week,
implement the antidrug program during the next week, and finally, measure their
attitudes again the following week.

• The pre test-post test design is much like a within-subjects experiment in which each
participant is tested first under the control condition and then under the treatment
condition.
 For example
• A manufacturing company might measure its workers’ productivity
each week for a year. In an interrupted time series-design, a time
series like this one is “interrupted” by a treatment. In one classic
example, the treatment was the reduction of the work shifts in a
factory from 10 hours to 8 hours. Because productivity increased
rather quickly after the shortening of the work shifts,
 Benefits
• Quasi-experimental research may be more feasible because it often does not have the time

and logistical constraints associated with many true experimental designs.

• True experimental designs are sometimes impractical or impossible because the research can

only effectively be carried out in natural settings. Experimental research can create artificial

situations that do not always represent real-life situations. This is largely due to fact that all

other variables are tightly controlled which may not create a fully realistic situation.  For this

reason, external validity is increased quasi-experimental research.

• Reactions of test subjects are more likely to be genuine because it not an artificial research

environment.
• It can be very useful in identifying general trends from the results, especially in social science disciplines.

• It reduces the difficulty and ethical concerns that may surround the pre-selection and random assignment of

test subjects. For example, if examining the effects of cigarette smoking by pregnant women on the fetus, it

would be unethical to randomly assign pregnant women to groups.

• Matching procedures may be used to help create a reasonable control group, making generalization more

feasible. For example, if one group of migraine suffers received a new treatment and a second group did

not receive the treatment, the difference in the pain levels may be attributed to the treatment if the control

group is an appropriate comparison group.

• The results generated can often be used to reinforce the findings of case studies by conducting research

that may lend itself to statistical analysis.

• Quasi-experimental approaches may reduce the time and resources required because extensive pre-

screening and randomization is not required or utilized.

 Limitation
• The lack of random assignment into test groups leads to non-equivalent test groups which can limit the generalizability of the

results to a larger population. Beside of the lack of randomization and the reduced internal validity, conclusions about

causality are less definitive in quasi-experimental designs.

• Statistical analyses may not be meaningful due to the lack of randomization and the threats to internal validity.

• Pre-existing factors and other influences are not taken into account because variables are less controlled in quasi-

experimental research. For example, when examining the impact of smoking by pregnant mothers, there may be other factors

such as diet, education, overall health, and access to health care in general that may be playing a role in the outcome.  If

other variables are not controlled, the researcher can be assured that the treatment was the sole factor causing the outcome.

• Human error also plays a key role in the validity of any project as discussed in previous modules.

• The research must adhere to ethical standards in order to be valid.