Nonexperimental research design

MR. JAYESH PATIDAR
www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com

INTRODUCTION…
 Nonexperimental 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.

NEED OF NONEXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
 Nonexperimental 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.

TYPES OF NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
DESIGN
Descriptive Design
Univariant descriptive design
Exploratory descriptive design
Comparative descriptive design
Correlational design
Prospective design
Retrospective design
Developmental Research Design
Cross-sectional design
Longitudinal design
Survey Research Design

DESCRIPTIVE
RESEARCH
DESIGN

INTRODUCTION…
 The 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.

MAIN FEATURES…
 Descriptive 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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 Descriptive 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 DESIGN
1. Univariant descriptive design
2. Exploratory design
3. Comparative design

1. Univariant descriptive design
 Univariant 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

CORRELATIONAL
RESEARCH
DESIGN

INTRODUCTION…
 This 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.

MAIN FEATURES…
 In 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.

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 In 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) www.drjayeshpatidar.blogspot.com

TYPES OF CORRELATIONAL
RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Prospective research design
2. Retrospective research design

1. 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.

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 for 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.

2. 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.

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 For 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.

DEVELOPMENTAL
RESEARCH
DESIGN

INTRODUCTION…
 Developmental 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.

TYPES OF DEVELOPMENTAL
RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Cross-sectional design
2. Longitudinal design

1. 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.

2. 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:
I. Trend studies
II. Panel studies
III. Follow-up studies

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I. Trend 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.

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II. Panel 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.

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III.Follow-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.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
DESIGN

CONCEPT…
 Epidemiology 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.

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Cohort 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.

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.

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.

Nonexperimental research design

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