Explain What Essential Characteristics Distinguish A True Experiment From Other Research Designs

What essential characteristics distinguish a true experiment from other research designs? True experimental designs separate themselves from other research designs in two ways. First, the utilize a baseline test or something of the equivalent to compare the final research results with (Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 204). When a research or an experiment is conducted there needs to be data collected prior to conducting the research or test so that a comparison can be made to determine or validate the research. An example of this type of research would be the Graduate Level Business Program Assessment conducted by Liberty University (LU) on its students who are actively pursuing graduate level degrees in business. An initial test is administered

88). You would not be able to use LU graduate level students in the control group, because they are actively engaged in the school’s curriculum. For this type of study, another school would need to be utilized as the control group. Therefore, to be one hundred percent effective, the control group would need to have nearly identical curriculums assigned. While this is not achievable under the country’s current post-secondary education system, the experiment would not be able to control for extraneous variables, such as varying instructor teaching abilities, type of classroom setting, and depending on the location of the school, some students will have varying levels of undergraduate education and life experience. With the inability to control these extraneous variables, it is almost not possible to conduct a true experimental design (Cooper & Schindler, 2014, p. 207). Due to the difficulty in conducting this research, it is not widely utilized. This is detailed in research conducted for the effectiveness of family planning. When doing historical data search, less than twenty true experiments were found for this topic even with the enormous volume of monetary capital invested in the programs over a thirty-year period (Bauman, 1997, p.