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DQ: Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design

NRS 433 Topic 3 DQ 1

DQ: Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design

I have another example regarding patient fatigue. How variable is an oncology patient’s fatigue? I do not think their fatigue is a discrete measurement. For many of my patients, they associate their level of fatigue with when they last received chemotherapy or where they are in their chemotherapy cycle. Additionally, a patient’s fatigue can be related to anemia if the chemotherapy has caused their hemoglobin and hematocrit to drop.

Of course, there are some patients who do not experience fatigue, as you mentioned. Other patients have minimal declines in their energy level, and others are utterly exhausted. For these patients, we assess them to ascertain if blood products or IV fluids are needed. Following these interventions and when patients return for evaluation, their fatigue level is assessed again. I do feel that their responses reveal an improvement in their fatigue at their follow-up appointment. No matter their responses, this would be difficult for researchers.

DQ: Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design

An example of nonexperimental research involves observing the behavior of patients’ reactions to pet therapy. I am interested in knowing how people who are not “pet people” react to pet therapy. In the study performed by Thodberg et al. (2015), nursing home residents who were afraid of dogs or had an allergy to dogs were excluded. They explicitly mentioned that exclusion criteria were fear or an allergy, but did not discuss if residents had a dislike of dogs.

Thodberg et al. (2015) discuss the experimental study they completed regarding pet therapy and its impact on the nursing home residents’ sleep, psychiatric state, and weight. The researcher would need participants to sign consents to participate in this study. Interestingly, the participants had a cognitive decline during the experimental period (Thodberg et al., 2015). So, either non-experimental or experimental there are factors that can cause bias in this research study. Can you think of a type of bias?

DQ: Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design

Thodberg, K., Sørensen, L. U., Christensen, J. W., Poulsen, P. H., Houbak, B., Damgaard, V., Keseler, I., Edwards, D., & Videbech, P. B. (2015). Therapeutic effects of dog visits in nursing homes for the elderly. Psychogeriatrics16(5), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyg.12159

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Replies to Wanda Felder

Nursing research is extensive, and researchers use different designs to collect data and make inferences about various phenomena.

DQ Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design
DQ Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design

Some researchers prefer the experimental design, while others rely on the non-experimental design. The main difference between these designs is how they deal with variables. Experimental design allows manipulation of variables, but the non-experimental design does not (Harding et al., 2021). Practical examples can help elucidate the differences between experimental and non-experimental research designs.

A suitable example of experimental research design is testing a new depression medication through a randomized controlled trial. In this experiment, the experimental group receives the medication while the control group receives a placebo. Participants can only belong to one of the groups. Non-experimental research may be carried out on the treatment to determine its characteristics, such as the quantity and chemical components. Another appropriate example is an experiment on the effectiveness of physical exercise on diabetic adults. One group goes through intensive exercise without a change in diet while the other participates in dietary modifications. Non-experimental research can be assessing the features of dietary modifications necessary to reducing obesity.

Regarding the levels of control, experimental research design exerts control on extraneous variables. Laksana et al. (2020) described extraneous variables as the variables not being investigated but can affect the outcomes of the research study. As a result, experimental research tampers with the natural setting. On the other hand, experimental research environments are natural and do not control extraneous variables. Harding et al. (2021) further posited that the most distinct difference between experimental and non-experimental research design is the researcher’s ability to control independent variables. Experimental research is manipulative, while non-experimental research does not interfere with the natural setting. The control is justified since researchers should control variables that can lead to inaccurate deductions.

References

Harding, D. J., Sanbonmatsu, L., Duncan, G. J., Gennetian, L. A., Katz, L. F., Kessler, R. C., … & Ludwig, J. (2021). Evaluating contradictory experimental and nonexperimental estimates of neighborhood effects on economic outcomes for adults. Housing Policy Debate, 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2021.1881985

 

Laksana, E., Aczon, M., Ho, L., Carlin, C., Ledbetter, D., & Wetzel, R. (2020). The impact of extraneous features on the performance of recurrent neural network models in clinical tasks. Journal of Biomedical Informatics102, 103351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103351

 

Hello Natalee. Thanks for the insightful discussion. From your discussion, I have learned that experimental design allows manipulation of variables, but the non-experimental design does not. There are two major types of research designs: experimental and nonexperimental. Experimental designs are used when the researcher wants to control and manipulate the variables in a study, in order to test a specific hypothesis (Harding et al., 2021). Nonexperimental designs, on the other hand, are used when the researcher does not want to manipulate the variables but rather wants to simply observe and describe what is happening. The level of control applied to each type of design varies (Leventhal & Dupéré, 2019). Experimental designs tend to have more control, since the researcher is able to specifically target and manipulate certain variables. Nonexperimental designs generally have less control, since the researcher is not actively manipulating any variables but is instead only observing what is happening naturally (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017). Experimental research is manipulative, while non-experimental research does not interfere with the natural setting.

DQ: Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design

Experimental research design is a type of quantitative research that involves the manipulation of variables to establish cause-and-effect relationships. In nursing, experimental research designs can be used to investigate the effects of nursing interventions on patient outcomes. For instance, a study by Huang et al. (2020) examined the effects of an educational program on the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease. The study used a randomized controlled trial design, where patients were randomly allocated to either an intervention group that received the educational program or a control group that did not receive the program. The study found that patients who received the educational program had a higher quality of life than those in the control group.

Experimental research designs provide a high level of control over extraneous variables, which enhances the internal validity of the study (Polit & Beck, 2022). In addition, experimental designs allow researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables, which enhances the external validity of the study.

Non-experimental research design is a type of quantitative research that does not involve the manipulation of variables. Instead, it relies on observations or data that have already been collected. In nursing, non-experimental research designs can be used to investigate the prevalence of health conditions or to explore the experiences of patients or nurses. For instance, a study by Tonna et al. (2020) explored the experiences of nurses who cared for patients with COVID-19. The study used a qualitative design, where data were collected through interviews with nurses who had cared for COVID-19 patients. The study found that nurses experienced emotional and physical exhaustion, anxiety, and fear while caring for COVID-19 patients.

Non-experimental research designs provide a lower level of control over extraneous variables, which may affect the internal validity of the study (Polit & Beck, 2022). However, non-experimental designs allow researchers to explore complex phenomena that cannot be manipulated in a laboratory setting.

Experimental research designs provide a high level of control over extraneous variables, which enhances the internal validity of the study (Polit & Beck, 2022). In experimental designs, researchers can control for confounding variables by randomization, blinding, and manipulation of variables. This ensures that the effect observed in the study is solely due to the intervention and not due to other factors.

On the other hand, non-experimental research designs provide a lower level of control over extraneous variables. In non-experimental designs, researchers cannot manipulate variables, and there is no control group for comparison. As a result, the observed effect may be due to other factors such as chance, selection bias, or confounding variables.

References:

Huang, X., Lin, L., Jiang, X., & Lv, C. (2020). Effect of a self-management education program on the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 111

 

Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2022). Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice (11th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.