Strengths and Weaknesses of Research Designs in Development and Education

Instructions: List the strengths and weaknesses for each research design in the appropriate columns in the table below. Conduct an
electronic search of development and education research article abstracts. List one article for each type of design below and include the
reference in APA format. Then briefly describe the clues that tells the reader that the research methodology is indeed a particular type of
design (i.e., experimental, correlational, and so on).
Type of Research
Design

Strengths

Experimental

*usually
accurate
conclusions
because outside
influences are
regulated
*can be easily
replicated by
other
researchers

QuasiExperimental

*can be used
when
experiments are
impossible or
unethical

Weaknesses

One Example in APA format

(Research Citation)
*usually
American Psychological Association. (2003). Identifying risk takers
conducted in labs could boost kids traffic safety. D. Smith Bailey. Retrieved
that are not
September 10, 2015 from:
identical to real
http://www.apa.org/monitor/dec03/safety.aspx
world situations
*This is experimental because an actual experiment with a control
*often is
is being done. It is able to be tested and can be easily replicated to
impractical or
confirm findings.
dangerous to test
accurately
*cannot be sure
groups are
similar in every
respect so
variable is
questioned

Large scale food retailing as an intervention for diet and health:

quasi-experimental evaluation of a natural experiment
(-- Cummins et al. 59 (12): 1035) Retrieved September 8, 2015
from: http://jech.bmj.com/content/59/12/1035.short
*Existing groups: (men or women age 16 or over) questioned on
fruit and vegetable consumption

CausalComparative

*good for when

you cannot
conduct
experiments

*cause and effect

have already
occurred and are
being examined
after the fact
*not as powerful
as experiments

Correlational

*inexpensive to
conduct
*highlights
relationships
between
variables

CrossSectional

*offer an
efficient look at
how things vary
with age

*cannot
determine cause
and effect by this
data alone
*cannot explain
the WHY only
the relationship

*difficult to
pinpoint variable

American Psychological Association. (2013). Gun violence:

Prediction,prevention, and policy. Retrieved September 10, 2015
from: http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/gun-violenceprevention.aspx
*Observing the cause of gun violence; do people kill people or do
guns kill people?

American Psychological Association. (2002). Use it or lose it?

More research suggests that mental activity may stave off the
symptoms of Alzheimers Disease. Beth Azar.
Retrieved September 10, 2015 from:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/may02/useit.aspx

*Observing what activities help ward off Alzheimers in a

correlational study. It measures whether the disease effects people
of a certain age and mental health.
American Psychological Association (2010). Resilience and
Recovery after war: Refugee children and families in the United
States.
Washington, D.C:Author.

Retrieved September 10, 2015 from:

http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/refugees.aspx
*documents the effects of war long term; observes healing methods
over long periods of time

Longitudinal

*can allow a
prediction of
later
characteristics

*expensive
*time consuming
*questionable
relevance

Cowell McFarlane, A. (2009). Posttraumatic Phenomena in a

Longitudinal Study of Children Following a Natural Disaster.
Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 26(5), 764769. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S08908567096503
58
*Studied over an 18 month period

Naturalistic

*sensitive to
childrens own
views
*informative on
childrens
development

*difficult and
time consuming
to carry out
*require
extensive data
*dont explain
cause and effect

Masi, M.D., G., MIllepiedi, M.D., S., Mucci, M.D., M., Bertini,
M.D., N., Milantoni, M.D., L., & Arcangeli, M.D., F. (2009). A
Naturalistic Study of Referred Children and Adolescents With
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Journal of the American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44(7), 673-681. Retrieved
September 10, 2015, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S08908567096165
79
*Observing naturalistic behaviors in children with OCD without
too much interference;

Differentiating Between Correlational and Experimental Research Designs

Instructions: Answer the following questions for each research study described below.
a. Does the study require a correlational or experimental research design? Note: Some could be adapted for both.
b. Identify the variables of interest in the study.
c. If the study is experimental, then identify which variable(s) is the independent variable and which variable(s) is the dependent variable.
d. State the hypothesis in terms of what the researchers expect to find.

1. Researchers are interested to learn whether their new reading program will influence reading comprehension scores and
spelling scores compared to the traditional reading program currently being used in second grade classrooms. They
implemented their reading program in two second grade classrooms and compared those childrens scores to childrens scores
in two second grade classrooms using the traditional method.
a. This is experimental research design.
b.The variables are the new reading program and the traditional reading program.
c.The independent variable is the new reading program and the dependent variable is the traditional reading program.
d.The hypothesis is that the spelling and comprehension scores of the children in the new reading program will be higher
than the spelling and comprehension scores of the children in the traditional reading program.
2. The age at which children experience the onset of puberty has steadily decreased over the past 100+ years. Recently,
researchers (as well as parents and children themselves), have seen an increase in pubertal onset among eight and nine-year-old
females. The researchers suspect that stressful living situations is contributing to this trend. They conduct a study to determine
if there is an association between degree of stress in the environment and age of onset of puberty.
a. This is correlational research design.
b.The variables are the age in which puberty begins in a stressful environment, and the age in which puberty begins in a
non stressful environment.
c. We are observing the relationship between these two things.

d. They hypothesis is that puberty begins earlier for females who are living in a stressful environment.
3. Psychologists want to know whether providing condoms in high schools will cause an increase in condom use. They collect sexual
activity data from adolescents at four high schools in the same school district. Two high schools have agreed to provide condoms
at no charge for their students. The psychologists then collect sexual activity data two weeks later, two months later, and eight
months later from all four high schools.
a. This is experimental research design.
b. The variables are high schools with condoms and high schools without condoms.
c. The independent variables are the schools that provide free condoms to their students, and the dependent variables are
the schools that do not provide free condoms to their students.
d. The hypothesis is that by providing free condoms to students, the use of condoms during sexual activity will be greater.
4. A child development researcher has noticed from several hundred hours of classroom observations that the more permissive
teaching style that teachers use, the more behavioral problems students seem to have. She decides to test her hunch empirically.
a. This is correlational research design.
b. The variables are the behavior of students that have a permissive teacher and the behavior of students that have less
permissive teaching style.
c. We are observing the relationship between these two types of teaching styles and the effect that they have on students
behavior.
d. They hypothesis is that the more permissive the teaching style of the teacher, the more behavioral problems students
have.
5. Evidence seems to be mounting that childrens IQ scores are more similar to their biological parents IQ scores than they are to
their adopted parents IQ scores. A school psychologist has access to a database that will enable him to contact parents who
allowed their child to be adopted, the child, and the childs adopted parents.
a. This correlational research design.
b. The variables are the IQ scores of: children who are adopted, their biological parents, and their adoptive parents.
c. The variables are being looked at for their relationships to one another.
d. The hypothesis is that adopted childrens IQ scores will more closely resemble the IQ scores of their biological parents
than the IQ scores of their adoptive parents.

6. An educational researcher is interested in whether adolescents who score high on spatial ability tests also have better throwing
accuracy. She gave spatial ability tests to 100 boys and girls and then measured their throwing accuracy.
a. This is correlational research design.
b. The variables are adolescents who score high on spatial ability tests and have better throwing accuracy and adolescents
who score high on spatial ability tests and do not have better throwing accuracy.
c. We are observing the relationship between high spatial ability scores and the scores of throwing accuracy.
d. The hypothesis is that students who score high on spatial ability tests will also score high on throwing accuracy tests.
7. A child development specialist wondered whether students would pay more attention to a teacher they believed to be competent.
He decided to conduct the study with seventh grade students because they have several different teachers throughout the day.
a. This is experimental design.
b. The variables are the amount of attention paid to the teacher by seventh grade students who believe their teacher to be
competent and the amount of attention paid to the teacher by seventh grade students who believe their teacher to be
incompetent.
c. The independent variable is the amount of attention paid to the teacher by seventh grade students who believed their
teacher to be competent and the dependent variable is the amount of attention paid to the teacher by seventh grade
students who believed their teacher to be incompetent.
d. The hypothesis is that seventh grade students will pay more attention to their teacher if they believe their teacher to be
competent.