WHAT IS AN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN
WHAT IS AN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN One of the key aims of experimental study design is the development of research with a high degree of causal validity (internal validity). Utilizing randomized experimental designs yields the highest levels of causal validity. The causal validity of results from quasi-experimental procedures is susceptible to a number of potential errors. However, new quasi-experimental methods that have been taken from fields unrelated to criminology provide similar levels of causal validity to experimental designs. The planning phase of research is replete with difficult and crucial decisions. Researchers must decide which research questions they will attempt to answer, which theoretical perspective will serve as the basis of their investigation, how they will accurately and reliably measure key constructs, who or what they will sample and observe, how many people, places, or things they will sample to achieve adequate statistical power, and which data analys