NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN
NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNMR. JAYESH
PATIDARwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTIONNonexperimental research design is one of the broad
categories of research designs, in which the researcher observes
the phenomena as they occur naturally, & no external variables
are introduced.It is a research design in which variables are not
deliberately manipulated, nor is the setting controlled.In
nonexperimental research, researchers collect data without making
changes or introducing treatments.
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NEED OF NONEXPERIMENTAL DESIGNNonexperimental designs can be
used to conduct a study are as follows:The studies in which the
independent variables cannot be maintained.The studies in which it
is unethical to manipulate the independent variable, i.e.
manipulation may cause physical or psychological harm to
subjects.The studies or research situations where it is not
practically possible to conduct experiments.Descriptive-type
studies that do not require any experimental
approaches.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
TYPES OF NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN
Descriptive DesignUnivariant descriptive designExploratory
descriptive designComparative descriptive designCorrelational
designProspective designRetrospective designDevelopmental Research
DesignCross-sectional designLongitudinal designEpidemiological
DesignCase-control studiesCohort studiesSurvey Research
Designwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGNwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of descriptive studies is to observe,
describe, & document aspects of a situation as it naturally
occurs, & sometimes to serve as a starting point for hypothesis
generation or theory
development.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
MAIN FEATURESDescriptive designs are used to observe, document,
& describe a phenomenon occurring in its natural setting
without any manipulation or control.The descriptive studies are
designed to gain more information about characteristics within a
particular field in the real world.Descriptive studies provide an
impression of a situation as it occurs in natural
settings.Descriptive studies do not involve the manipulation of
variables, & variables are studies as they exist in the real
world.
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CountDescriptive design may be used to develop theories,
identify problems with current practices, justify current
practices, make judgments, or determine other practices in similar
situations.In descriptive studies, bias is prevented through
operational definitions of variables, large sample size, random
sampling techniques, valid & reliable research tools, &
formal data collection methods.Descriptive designs include
identification of phenomenon of interest, identifying the variables
within the phenomenon, developing operational definitions of the
variables, & describing the
variables.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE DESIGNUnivariant descriptive
designExploratory designComparative design
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Univariant descriptive designUnivariant descriptive designs are
undertaken to describe the frequency of occurrence of a
phenomenon.This design does not necessarily focus on the study of a
single variable; there may be one or more variables involved in the
study.For example, a researcher is interested in assessing the
experiences of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. In
this study, the researcher may describe the frequency of different
symptoms experienced by the patients & the type of treatment
they received during the course of disease, etc. There are multiple
variables in this research study.
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Exploratory design:Exploratory design is used to identify,
explore, & describe the existing phenomenon & its related
factors.In other words, it is not only a simple description or the
frequency of occurrence of a phenomenon, but its in-depth
exploration & a study of its related factors to improve further
understanding about a less-understood phenomenon.For example, an
exploratory study to assess the multifactorial dimensions of falls
& home safety measures for elderly people living in selected
communities in the city Mehsana.
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Comparative design:Comparative design involves comparing &
contrasting two or more samples of study subjects on one or more
variables, often at a single point of time.This design is used to
compare two distinct groups on the basis of selected attributed
such as knowledge level, perceptions, & attitudes; physical or
psychological symptoms; & so on.For example, A comparative
study on health problems among rural & urban older people in
district Mehsana, Gujarat. www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
DESIGNwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTIONThis is a nonexperimental design, where researcher
examines the relationship between two or more variables in a
natural setting without manipulation or control.In other words, it
is a research design where researchers study the relationship of
two or more variables without any intervention.For example, this
design was used for A correlational study on the effect of smoking
on lung cancer among people in
Mehsana.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
MAIN FEATURESIn correlational studies, the researchers examine
the strength of relationships between variables by determining how
change in one variable is correlated with change in the other
variable.Generally, correlational studies have independent &
dependent variables, but the effect of independent variable is
observed on dependant variable without manipulating the independent
variable. www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CountIn some correlational studies, identification of the
independent & dependent variables is difficult; however, in
most correlational studies, the independent variable is identified,
which, without any intervention, influences the dependent variable.
For example, this design was used in a correlational investigation
of the study habits & visual acuity among school children
studying in selected schools in the city of Mehsana. In this study,
study habits are the independent variable, while visual acuity is
the dependent variable.In epidemiological language these studies
are known as cause & effect study, where cause & effect
relationship is investigate in natural settings without imposing
experimental interventions. This cause & effect relationship
can be investigated either in forward manner, i.e. from cause to
effect (prospective) or backward manner, i.e. effect to cause
(retrospective)
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TYPES OF CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH DESIGNProspective research
designRetrospective research
designwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
Prospective research design:A design in which the researcher
relates the present to the future is a prospective research design
.Prospective studies start with a presumed cause & then go to
presumed effects.In this research design , researcher observes
phenomenon from cause to effect.Prospective designs are often
longitudinal, but may also be cross sectional.
www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
Countfor example, a researcher conducting a prospective
correlational study on effect of maternal infection during
pregnancy on foetal development & pregnancy outcome .In this
study, the researcher starts by collecting data from pregnant women
regarding any history of infection among women during their current
pregnancies, next observes foetal development & pregnancy
outcome, & finally analyses the relationship of maternal
infection during pregnancy & foetal development & pregnancy
outcome. www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
Retrospective research design:A design in which the researcher
studies the current phenomenon by seeking information from past is
a retrospective research design.In this the researcher links the
present phenomenon with the past events.In other words, the
researcher has a backward approach to study a phenomenon, where he
or she moves from effect to identify the
cause.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CountFor example, this design was used in a retrospective
correlational study on substance-abuse-related high-risk factors
among traumatic head injury patients admitted in neurosurgery ICU
of Geetanjali Medical College & Hospital, Udaipur.In this
study, the researcher first approached head injury patients, &
then tried to identify the number of head injuries that occurred
under the influence of substance abuse.
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DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH
DESIGNwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
INTRODUCTIONDevelopmental research design examines the
phenomenon with reference to time.Developmental research designs
are generally used as adjunct research designs with other research
designs such as cross-sectional-descriptive,
longitudinal-correlational research
designs.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
TYPES OF DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNCross-sectional design
Longitudinal designwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
Cross-sectional design:Cross-sectional research design is one in
which researcher collects data at particular point of time (one
period of data collection).These studies are easier & more
convenient to carry out.For example, a researcher is interested in
assessing the awareness on swine flu among people of an area.Here
the researcher interacts only once to collect awareness-related
data from respondents.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
Longitudinal design:Longitudinal research design is used to
collect data over an extended time period (long-time study).Its
value is in its ability to demonstrate change over a period of
time.For example, a researcher in interested in the perception of
nursing students towards nursing profession from the beginning of
nursing programme to its end.In this example, it is appropriate to
use the longitudinal research design to study this
phenomenon.Longitudinal studies are generally classified into three
types:Trend studies Panel studies Follow-up
studieswww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CountTrend studies:These help to investigate a sample from a
general population over a time with respect to some
phenomenon.Trend studies permit researchers to examine pattern
& rate of changes & to make prediction about future
direction based on previously identified patterns & rates of
changes.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CountPanel studies: A panel in research is referred to the
sample of people involved in a study.In panel studies, same people
are involved & over a period of time they become more
informative on the phenomenon than the subjects in trends studies
because the researcher can not only examine the patterns of change,
& but also the reasons for change.The same selected people are
contacted for two or more times to collect further
data.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CountFollow-up studies:These are undertaken to determine the
subsequent states of subject(s) with a specific condition or those
who have received a specific intervention.
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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
DESIGNwww.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CONCEPTEpidemiology is the study to investigate the distribution
& causes of the diseases in population.Therefore,
epidemiological studies are generally conducted to investigate
causes of different diseases in either prospective approaches
(causes to effect) or retrospective designs.Prospective studies are
known as cohort studies & retrospective studies are called
case-control studies.www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
CountCohort studies:In this design, a longitudinal approach is
used to investigate the occurrence of a disease in existing
presumed causes.For example, a researcher longitudinally observes
the smokers for development of lung cancer.
Case-control studies:In this design, causes of a disease are
investigated after the occurrence of a disease.For example, a
researcher investigates the history of smoking in patients
diagnosed with lung cancer. www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
ADVANTAGE OF NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN Nonexperimental
research designs tend to be closest to real-life
situation.Nonexperimental research designs are most suitable for
the nursing research studies..Numerous human characteristics are
inherently not subject to experimental manipulation (e.g. blood
type, personality, health beliefs, medical diagnosis, etc.) There
are many variable that could technically be manipulated, but
manipulated is forbidden on ethical grounds.
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DISADVANTAGES OF NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN The major
disadvantage of nonexperimental researches is that the results
obtained & the relationship between the dependent &
independent variable can never be absolutely clear &
error-free.Nonexperimental studies are conducted for comparative
purposes using nonrandomly selected groups, which may not be
homogeneous & tend to be dissimilar in different traits or
characteristics, which may affect the authenticity &
generalizability of the study results.
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Thankyou www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com
