NRS 433 Topic 3 DQ 1 Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design
NRS 433 Topic 3 DQ 1
Provide examples of experimental and nonexperimental research design. Contrast the levels of control applied to each.
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.
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?
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. Psychogeriatrics, 16(5), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyg.12159
If there was ever any doubt, nurses in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that they will do almost anything for their patients, even risking their own lives. During this time, nobody knew what was going on or what was expected. With no real protocol and no guidance, nurses were given patients on top of patients, and just managed the best way they could. For this, nurses have been hailed as heroes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I never heard about nurses being celebrated so much. While it is nice to be acknowledged, I personally feel the hero narrative has led to further unrealistic expectations, such as working with inadequate resources, staffing and safety precautions. It has become normalized for nurses to work tirelessly without consideration for how this may affect them physically, mentally, and emotionally. Consequently, nurses’ are leaving the profession because of burnout. Then and now, nurses put the needs of their patients and society above their own. This is not something to praise, yet something to be changed for the betterment of all.
Nursing research is extensive, and researchers use different designs to collect data and make inferences about various phenomena. 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
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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 Informatics, 102, 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.
References
Edmonds, W., & Kennedy, T. (2017). Quantitative methods for nonexperimental research. An Applied Guide to Research Designs: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. Seconded Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc, 117-119. https://methods.sagepub.com/book/an-applied-guide-to-research-designs-2e/i949.xml
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
Leventhal, T., & Dupéré, V. (2019). Neighborhood effects on children’s development in experimental and nonexperimental research. Annual review of developmental psychology, 1, 149-176. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-085221
Like your example of an RCT in experimental research I was interested to read this randomized controlled trial by Jain et al. (2019) on the effects of yoga in patients with heart failure. The inclusion criteria for the study was stable systolic HF, ages 18-65, left ventricular ejection fraction 30-40%, and unchanged pharmacologic therapy in the last 3 months (Jain et al., 2019). While they excluded people with instances of acute coronary syndrome in the last 6 months, comorbidities of COPD, liver failure, renal failure, and malignancy, and those unable to do yoga (Jain et al., 2019). They randomized the 60 participants into two groups, the control group received their standard medication therapy and the other group that received that plus yoga (Jain et al., 2019).
The study lasted 12 weeks and the results found several beneficial effects in the group doing yoga: improvement in ejection fraction, quality of life, and reduction in NTproBNP and CRP levels (Jain et al., 2019). The authors cite a limitation that participating in yoga could not be blind, so they cannot rule out a placebo effect in the quality of life measurement (Jain et al., 2019). Nonetheless, the lab results cannot be disputed so the findings do have clinical significance and this leads to generalizability. I chose this article because to me it provided a clear picture of the topic we are discussing this week. While reading the study I was able to dissect attributes in ways I would not previously have been able to do.
Jain, A., Manchanda, S., Madan, K., Bhola, S., & Sawhney, J. (2019). Effect of yoga in Heart Failure: randomized trial. Indian Heart Journal, 71, S37. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_183_21
Experimental research studies is highly controlled research in which researcher manipulates one or more variables to determine effect on other variables (McNiff & Petrick, 2018). Experimental research design is often considered a gold-standard in research designs and more protected from bias and subjectivity compare to other research methods. It is widely used method in science, psychology, social studies and education.
It is considered to have the most reliable outcomes and the most definite answers and less chance of bias IMcNiff & Pertick, 2018). Experimental research design is based on comparison of two or more groups where the participants are randomly selected and neither the participants nor the researcher would know if they were receiving the treatment or intervention or the placebo, which makes experimental research is a highly controlled and manipulated environment.
In this quantitative research design, one or more independent variables are manipulated and applied to one or more dependent variables and the effect on the dependable variables is observed, measured and recorded, therefore it allows the researcher to draw a reasonable conclusion regarding cause -effect relationships between two variables types. This type of research is essential for nursing science which heavily relies on evidence best practice.
Experimental studies are considered capable of generating substantial evidence (Gonella, Di Giulio, Palese, Dimonte, & Campagna,2019). For example, experimental study with nursing staff related to the knowledge about pressure ulcers was conducted among 71 nursing staff divided into intervention group and control group. Data was collected through validated questionnaire and the scores of the groups were analyzed before and after intervention concluded that educational interventions on staging, evaluation and prevention of pressure ulcers contributed significantly to the increase of correct responses score in the knowledge test of the intervention group and improved their knowledge on the subject (Baron, Reuter, Burgos, Cavali, Brandenburg & Krug, 2016).
On the other hand, in non-experimental research design the environment of the research cannot be controlled or manipulated by a researcher at will because it takes place in a real life settings, where extraneous variables cannot be eliminated. Therefore the relationships between cause and effects cannot be clearly established. Another term for this type of research is observational because the researcher observes natural occurrences without intervention (Glasofer & Townsend, 2019). Findings from non-experimental research is the first step in determining whether an experimental design is called for. For example, a researcher may want to study exercise habits among teenagers with type 2 diabetes.
It can not be said that one method is better than the other. Each one is equally valid depending on what is going to be studied and / or on the perspective that the researcher wants to give to his/her work. Both research designs are valuable for advancing nursing practice and nursing profession as a whole.
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.
Experimental and Non-Experimental Research Design
There are two primary types of research designs: experimental and nonexperimental. Experimental designs are those in which the researcher has complete control over the independent and dependent variables. These types of studies are often used in scientific settings where the goal is to determine cause and effect relationships. In contrast, nonexperimental designs are less controlled, and therefore provide less conclusive findings. However, they can be useful for exploratory research or in situations where conducting an experiment would be impractical (Leventhal & Dupéré, 2019).
One example of an experimental design would be a laboratory study in which participants are assigned to different conditions (e.g., receiving a treatment or not) and their responses are measured. The study,” Impact of tart cherry juice on systolic blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in older adults: a randomized controlled trial” by Chai et al., (2018) is an example of experimental study design. This type of study allows the researcher to isolate the effects of the independent and the dependent variables. On the other hand, the study, “Association between stress and hypertension among adults more than 30 years” by Bhelkar et al., (2018) is an example of nonexperimental study design.
In nonexperimental research design, there are three main levels of control: (1) experimental, (2) quasi-experimental, and (3) non-experimental. In experimental research design, the researcher has complete control over all aspects of the study. The researcher manipulates one or more independent variables and measures the impact on one or more dependent variables (Ross & Grant, 2019). In quasi-experimental research design, the researcher does not have complete control over all aspects of the study but does have some degree of control over key elements that could impact results (Chiang et al., 2020). For example, the researcher might select a comparison group that is not randomly assigned to ensure that groups are matched on important characteristics.
Reference
Chiang, I. C. A., Jhangiani, R. S., & Price, P. C. (2020). Overview of nonexperimental research. Research Methods in Psychology-2nd Canadian Edition. https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/chapter/overview-of-nonexperimental-research/
Leventhal, T., & Dupéré, V. (2019). Neighborhood effects on children’s development in experimental and nonexperimental research. Annual review of developmental psychology, 1, 149-176. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-085221
Ross, A. S., & Grant, M. (2019). Experimental and nonexperimental designs in social psychology. Routledge.
Someone may feel appreciated if you refer to them as an angel or a healthcare hero. It might provide them with a sense of worth for their work and contributions to society. It might give kids a sense of belonging and make them realize how important their work is. This recognition could encourage healthcare professionals to continue their important work and serve as a reminder of their significance. It makes people feel important and respected.
When someone is described as an angel or a healthcare hero, they can experience gratitude and a sense that they are making a difference. They might feel a sense of appreciation for their work and its beneficial effects on other people’s lives. It might give them the impression that their work is important and that they are an essential part of something much bigger than themselves. This acknowledgment might have a deeper meaning for individuals who work in the healthcare sector. These employees may feel more inspired and motivated if they know their work is valued, which is especially beneficial considering the frequent problematic situations they frequently encounter regularly. Additionally, it might give them the impression that they are improving the world.
Healthcare professionals frequently provide vital services to the communities in which they work, and as a result, they play a crucial role in preserving the population’s health and safety. Even while they might not always receive the recognition they merit, calling someone a healthcare hero or an angel might make them feel cherished and revered. This recognition may motivate them to continue the crucial work they are carrying out and make them aware of their impact on the larger community. Recognizing their efforts can help those who work in healthcare feel appreciated for their work and contribution to society. Additionally, it could give kids the impression that their work matters and that they are an integral part of something greater than themselves. This recognition may inspire those in the healthcare industry to continue their crucial work and serve as a reminder of the difference they are making in the world.