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 design assigned to conditions.
Quasi
Experiment
A time series is a set of Interrupted Pre test- the dependent
measured once
variable
before
is
the
measurements taken at
Time Series Post test treatment is implemented and
intervals over a period
Design Design once after it is implemented
of time.
For example--- Non-equivalent group design
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--------- Non-equivalent group design
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: Pre test-Post test Design
• 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: Interrupted Time Series Design
• 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.
• 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 foetus, 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.
• 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.
• Statistical analyses may not be meaningful due to the lack of
randomization and the threats to internal validity.
• Presents a threat to internal validity. If the researcher does not start
with equivalent groups, then the researcher cannot be sure that the
treatment was the sole factor causing change. Weaknesses of quasi-
experimental design may contribute to the change.
• Human error also plays a key role in the validity of any project.
• The research must adhere to ethical standards in order to be valid.
