Types of experiment

Types of Experiments in
Social Sciences
SUKANYA BARUA, PREMLATA SINGH and
SATYAPRIYA
Division of Agricultural Extension,
ICAR-IARI, New Delhi

Research Design is the arrangement of
conditions for collection and analysis
of data in a manner that aims to
combine relevance to the research
purpose with economy in procedure
It enables the researcher to arrive at
as valid, objective, accurate and
economic solution of the given
problem as possible

Research strategies used in extension studies
Research Design
1. Qualitative
2. Quantitative 3. Mixed methods
1. Between
group
2. Within
group
1. True experimental design
2. Quasi experimental design
3. Factorial design
Experimental
1. Time series experiment
2. Repeated measures experiment
3. Single subject experiment
Non-experimental
1. Descriptive
2.Comparative
3. Co relational
i. Explanatory
ii. Prediction
4.Survey
i. Cross sectional
ii. Longitudinal
5. Ex-
post
facto
6.
Secon
dary
data

Research Design
Quantitative Qualitative Mixed methods
Ethnographic
Interactive Non-interactive/analytical
Phenomenological
Grounded
theory
Narrative
Research
Realist
ethnography
Case
study
Critical
ethnography
Concept
Analysis
Historical
Analysis
Policy
Analysis

Quantitative Mixed Methods Qualitative
Explanatory Exploratory Triangulation
Research Design

Quantitative Research Strategies
Experimental strategies
The researcher manipulates the conditions of
what subjects will experience by structuring
actual situations, introducing or controlling
certain variables in order to measure their effect
on each other, or by systematically imposing or
withholding specified conditions
Types- Between group and within group designs
(Creswell, 2012)

a. Between-group designs
(i) True Experimental Design
Between group design is used when the researcher
wishes to compare two or more groups
True experimental design: Cause-effect analytical
experiments which involve random assignment of
subjects and conditions to the subjects for
objectively measuring the research phenomenon by
controlling external interference and errors
Eg: The influence of technology subsidies on
adoption may be studied by assessing adoption by
comparing both groups

(ii) Quasi-experimental design
Quasi experiments are non randomized
experiments conducted in non laboratory
situations where independent variables are
manipulated to assess their influence on
dependent variables
It differs from true experiments in that subjects
are not randomly assigned to conditions
It has both pre-post, as well as post only test
designs

Quasi-experimental designs are of
three types (Creswell, 2009)
Non-equivalent (Pre test and Post test)
Control-Group Design- The experimental and
control groups are selected without random
assignment
Single group

(iii) Factorial Designs
In the factorial design, the researcher studies
two or more categorical, independent
variables that are analyzed at two or more
levels (Vogt, 2005)
The purpose of this design is to study the
independent and simultaneous effects of two
or more independent treatment variables on
an outcome

b. With-in group designs
(Within group design is employed when the total number of participants
is very limited. This design analyses the variations present within the
group)
(i) Time series experiments- In this design, studies are
conducted on a single group over a period of time,
through a series of pre-test and post-test observation
Eg- Diffusion of new agricultural technologies guided by a
series of technology interventions can be studied within a
specific geographical or social system over years

(ii) Repeated measures experiment:
In a repeated measures design, multiple
treatments are administered on a single group
and the researcher compares its performance
across these experiments

(iii) Single subject Designs:
Single case designs are usually single subject or
group research (without control), used to evaluate the
extent to which a causal relation exists between
introduction of an intervention and change in a specific
dependent variable
Eg: a study focusing on influence of quality seed
material provision to a single farmer or a group
focusing on livelihood security aspect may be termed
as single case research design

B. Non experimental Strategies
(In non experimental designs, the researcher may examine
relationship between things without manipulating the
conditions)
1. Descriptive research:
It provides a detailed summary of an existing
phenomenon by assigning numbers to
characteristics of objects or subjects involved
2. Comparative Research:
The researcher investigates the presence of
difference between two or more groups on the
phenomenon studied

Comparative research is often multidisciplinary
and utilizes quantitative techniques to study
phenomenon
Mostly used in cross cultural studies and Social
sciences

3. Correlational Research:
Assessing the direction and strength of association
between two or more phenomena, without
manipulating them
Types of correlational designs:
a) Concurrent or explanatory
b) Predictive

Survey Research Design
The survey research design provides a quantitative
description of trends, attitudes or opinions of a
population by studying a sample of that population
It includes some cross sectional and longitudinal
studies using questionnaires or structured interviews
for data collection with the intent of generalizing
from a sample to a population

a. Cross Sectional
In a cross sectional survey design, the
researcher collects data at one point of time.
Cross sectional designs are of several types:
Single group study measuring current attitudes,
beliefs, opinions or practices
Comparing attitudes, beliefs, opinions or
practices between groups

b. Longitudinal
(Collecting data over a period of time from single
or multiple groups)
(i) Trend Study:
Conducted every year on a specific aspect,
but with a different sample
The sample size remains same
Eg: Assessing trends in farmers’ input
utilization in potato over the years

(ii) Cohort:
A group of subjects are identified and a specific
phenomenon is studied over a period of time to
assess changes
The same population is studied each year but the
sample from that population is different for each
year
Eg: Studying food grain consumption patterns
through cohorts over a period of time

(iii) Panels:
An identical sample selected at beginning is
used for collecting data every year to assess the
changes over time
eg: Studying career progression of agricultural
students who have graduated from a particular
university

Ex post facto
Ex post facto = ‘After the fact’
study or after the fact research is a category of
research design in which the investigation starts
after the phenomenon occurred, without any
intervention from researcher
Type of quasi-experimental study examining how an
independent variable, present prior to study in the
participants , affects a dependent variable

Lack of direct control over the independent
variable and non-random selection of participants
are the most important differences between ex
post facto research and the true experimental
research design
Most extension research follows the ex post facto
approach

Qualitative Research
Strategies
Qualitative designs are concerned with
describing or interpreting a phenomenon without
manipulating its conditions
It is broadly classified as interactive or non
interactive, based on researchers’ involvement
in the inquiry

a. Interactive
Ethnography- Strategy of inquiry in which
the researcher studies an intact cultural
group in a natural setting over a prolonged
period of time by collecting, primarily,
observational and interview data

i. Phenomenological Research
The researcher attempts to understand and
explain how an individual’s or individuals’ own
perspective through in-depth interviews
Phenomenology is a
qualitative research method that is used to
describe how human beings experience a
certain phenomenon.
It attempts to set aside biases and
preconceived assumptions about human
experiences, feelings, and responses to a
particular situation.

ii. Grounded theory
It is a qualitative strategy for developing theories where
the researcher derives an abstract theory of a process,
action or interaction from the views of participants
Grounded theory (GT) is a systematic methodology in
the social sciences involving the construction of
theories through methodological gathering and analysis
of data. It is a research methodology which operates
inductively

iii. Narrative Research
Researcher explains the lives of individuals, collect
and tell stories about people’s lives, and write
narratives of individual experiences
It can effectively used in documenting indigenous
technical knowledge, develop success stories of
agricultural technologies etc. using autobiographies,
narrative interviews and histories

b. Non- interactive
i. Concept Analysis
It is a research methodology where concepts, their
characteristics and relations to other concepts are
examined for the purpose of identifying different
meaning of same concept
Eg: Food security, poverty, livelihood security etc.
can be assessed by comparing and contrasting
meanings attributed by various stakeholders like
farmers, farm women, farm youth, local traders,
panchayat officials

ii. Historical Analysis
• It is a method of interpreting and understanding the past
through a disciplined and systematic analysis
• It involves detailed examination of ‘traces’ of past through
artifacts, texts, images and old building etc.
• Eg: Indigenous technological knowledge can be collected
and elaborated upon by key informant interviews, village
record, artefacts, old photographs and drawing made by
elders

Mixed methods strategy
The mixed methods research design is a
procedure for collecting, analyzing and
combining both quantitative and qualitative
methods in a single study or a series of studies
to understand research problem
Combining quantitative and qualitative strategies
will provide comprehensive view of phenomenon

1. Convergent parallal design:
Quantitative and qualitative data are collected
simultaneously, analyzed and interpreted in
order to gain a comprehensive view of
phenomenon
2. Explanatory sequential design:
Quantitative data is collected first and
qualitative data is gathered at a later stage for
explaining the results of quantitative analysis

3. Embedded design:
Both quantitative and qualitative data are
collected simultaneously or sequentially, and
both forms of data is used only as supportive
material to justify the results from another set of
data
4. Transformative Design:
This approach uses any one of the above stated
mixed method designs, but fits the data within a
transformative frameworks
Eg: Transformative frameworks are feminism, gender,
ethnicity, disability and racism

Action Research Designs
It is a problem oriented design where the
researcher systematically gathers information
about field practice for improving the
effectiveness of field work
Practical Action Research: A small scale
research work narrowly focuses on specific field
problem or issues undertaken in a specific area

Participatory Action Research:
A social process in which researcher deliberately
explores the relationship between individual or
other people for the purpose of improving quality
of life

Research methods and techniques used
in quantitative, qualitative and mixed
method design
Aspects Quantitative methods Mixed methods Qualitative
methods
Methods Pre- determined Pre determined and
emerging
Emerging
Instrument Structured instruments
-Interview schedule,
questionnaires etc.
Both structured and
partially structured
instruments
Partially structured
instruments-
Checklists,
schedules,
interview guides
Type of
questions
Close ended Open and close
ended
Open ended
Types of
data
collected
Numerical Numerical and
descriptive
Numerical and
descriptive

Nature of data
collected
Technology
performance data,
psychological
attributes data,
economic data,
social data and
census data
Multiple forms
Technology
performance data,
observational data,
document data and
audio visual data
Types of
analysis
Numerical and
statistical analysis
Numerical,
statistical, text and
image analysis
Text and image
analysis
Interpretation Statistical
interpretation
Multiple forms Themes and
patterns
interpretation

References:
Sivakumar P.S., Sontakki.,SulaimanR.,
Sarvanan R. and Mittal N. 2016. Mannual on
Good Practices in Extension Research and
Evaluation. pp. 9-16.
Kerlinger, F. N. 1964. Foundations of
Behavioural Research, Holt, Rinehart and
Winston Inc. New York.
Ray and Mondal. 2011. Research Methods in
Social Sciences and Extension Education,
Kalyani Publishers, pp.179.

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