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Experimental and Ex Post Facto Designs
Overview
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The purpose of experimental studies is to examine the possible influences that one factor or condition may have on another factor or condition; in other words, experimental research examines cause-and-effect relationships. It does so, ideally, by controlling for all factors except for those whose possible effects are the focus of research. Unlike experimental studies, causal-comparative designs involve no direct manipulation of the factors under study: the presumed cause has already occurred.
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