Ch. 8 CDIS 455 Nonexperimental Research Designs Study Notes

Chapter 8: Nonexperimental Research Designs

Instructor: Charis Powell, M.S., CCC-SLP
Semester: Fall 2021

Overview of Nonexperimental Research

  • Non-experimental research designs are distinct in that they do not utilize a control group.

  • The primary purpose of these designs is to describe behaviors and the associations between different behaviors.

Types of Nonexperimental Research Methods in Communication Disorders (CDIS)

  • Case Studies:

    • Focuses on an in-depth examination of a single individual.

  • Ethnographic Designs:

    • Involves studying a group of individuals with shared characteristics or experiences within their social context.

  • Historical Designs:

    • Collects and analyzes data from existing records to understand past events or trends.

  • Correlational Designs:

    • Focuses on the relationship between two or more quantifiable variables.

    • Goal is to evaluate the degree of relationships, indicating how one may predict the other.

  • Developmental Designs:

    • Measures behaviors over a specific period to track developmental changes.

  • Surveys:

    • Used to describe the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors within a specific population.

    • Instruments can include questionnaires and interviews.

Correlational Research

  • Definition:

    • “…to discover significant variables in the field situation, to discover relations among variables, and to lay groundwork for later, more systematic and rigorous testing of hypotheses.”

  • Key aspects investigated:

    • Direction: The nature of the relationship (positive or negative).

    • Strength: The degree of association between the variables.

Developmental Research

  • Definition:

    • “…designs that repeatedly measure behaviors over a period of time in order to record developmental trends.”

  • Types of Developmental Designs

    • Longitudinal:

    • Typically spans one year or more, following the same group of participants.

    • Cross-Sectional:

    • Data collected from several different groups of participants at a single point in time.

    • Semi-Longitudinal:

    • Involves data collection over time, but includes two or more groups of participants.

Types of Developmental Designs

  • Cross-Sectional:

    • Conducted over time with diverse cohorts of participants.

    • Limitations:

    • Nonequivalence: Variability in groups that may affect results.

  • Longitudinal:

    • Involves tracking the same group of participants over an extended period (1 year or more).

    • Limitations:

    • Subject Mortality: Loss of participants over time can skew results.

    • Resources: Requires significant time and financial resources.

  • Semi-Longitudinal:

    • Conducted over time with multiple groups of participants.

    • Limitations:

    • Group Equivalency: Ensuring comparability between different groups can be challenging.

Surveys

  • Definition:

    • “…to investigate the characteristics of a population by collecting representative samples.”

  • The survey acts as an instrument for data collection, typically through questionnaires or interviews.

  • Data collected might include demographic information such as:

    • Age, gender, socio-economic status (SES), education level, occupation, and personal opinions or attitudes.

  • A robust sample size is essential to ensure the representativeness of data collected.

References

  • Meline, T. (2010). A research primer for communication sciences and disorders. Pearson.