Experimental ( quantitative ) studies : An overview and general issues

Experimental designs are said to be the approach for obtaining information about causal relationships (Robson, 1993), allowing researchers to assess the correlation (relationship) between one variable and another. A principle factor of such designs is that one element is manipulated by the researcher to see whether it has any impact upon another. The element being manipulated by researchers (e.g. introducing a teenage pregnancy preventative intervention) is known as the independent variable, whereas the change (or outcome) resulting from the implementation of the independent variable (e.g. teenage pregnancy rates) is the dependent variable.