The fact that the researcher does not have experimental control over the independent variable and does not randomly assign participants to conditions results in a quasi-experimental design with results in which of the following?
A)The researcher being unable to rule out any threats to internal validity
B)A study that is no different than a correlational design
C)A weaker causal claim than a true experiment
D)An unethical study

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Quasi-experimental designs do not have as strong of a causal claim as true experiments because the researcher does not have complete control over the independent variable and cannot assign participants randomly to groups. However, this does not necessarily mean that the researcher cannot rule out any threats to internal validity or that the study is unethical. It also differs from a correlational design because in a quasi-experimental design, there is still some manipulation of the independent variable, whereas in a correlational design, there is not.

The Fact That the Researcher Does Not Have Experimental Control