Experiment method
Based on the type of data and the analysis methods that the research requires, quantitative
methods or qualitative methods will be chosen to answer research questions. With
quantitative method, the research will be performed to deal with numbers and statistics. The
result will have objective conclusions and a clear structure. The main purpose of this research
is to test the accuracy of theories, assumptions or to establish a new fact about the topic.
Experiment method is a quantitative analysis that manipulate independent variables to study
the cause-and-effect relationships of their dependent variables. In short, it is a process that is
designed to test a hypothesis.
The advantage of using Experiment method:
• Have high control which make it easy to replicate the exact same conditions
• Make it easily to understand the relationship among variables, the environments and
the subjects
• Be able to establish cause-and-effect relationships
• The results are specific.
The disadvantage of using Experiment method:
• The Hawthorne effect which means the respondents will act differently if they know
they are involved in the experiment.
• The result can be created from an artificial lab environment that does not fit the real
environment.
• Demand characteristics or experimenter effects may bias the results and become
confounding variables
• It takes a lot of time and money
Example:
The research question is how social distancing affect people’s productivity. The independent
variable of this research is the number of months people are required to stay at home without
physical contact to the outside world. The dependent variable is the time they need to finish
the same work when coming to office before and after social distancing. The hypothesis is:
Null (H0) social distancing does not affect people’s productivity. Alternate (H a) social
distancing decrease people’s productivity. Next, the result of the test will determine the
accuracy of hypothesis.
