There are three basic types of experimental research designs .

These include pre-

experimental designs, true experimental designs, and quasi-experimental designs.

A true experiment is thought to be the most accurate experimental research design.

Learn more about true experiments from examples and test your knowledge with a quiz.

Definition and Criteria of a True Experiment:

Sarah is a researcher at a children's psychiatric center. Her office has just been asked
to conduct a pilot study on a new prescription medication used to treat anxiety called
Drug X. Sarah wants to figure out if Drug X causes a reduction in anxiety like the drug
company claims. How can Sarah answer this question? One method would be to
conduct a true experiment.
A true experiment is a type of experimental design and is thought to be the most
accurate type of experimental research. This is because a true experiment supports or
refutes a hypothesis using statistical analysis. A true experiment is also thought to be
the only experimental design that can establish cause and effect relationships. So, what
makes a true experiment?
There are three criteria that must be met in a true experiment

1. Control group and experimental group

2. Researcher-manipulated variable
3. Random assignment

Let's look at each of these requirements more closely.

Control Group and Experimental Group

True experiments must have a control group, which is a group of research participants
that resemble the experimental group but do not receive the experimental treatment.
The control group provides a reliable baseline data to which you can compare the
experimental results. The experimental group is the group of research participants
who receive the experimental treatment. True experiments must have at least one
control group and one experimental group, though it is possible to have more than one
experimental group.

Researcher-Manipulated Variable
In true experiments, the researcher has to change or manipulate the variable that is
hypothesized to affect the outcome variable that is being studied. The variable that the
researcher has control over is called the independent variable. The independent
variable is also called the predictor variable because it is the presumed cause of the
differences in the outcome variable.
The outcome or effect that the research is studying is called the dependent variable.
The dependent variable is also called the outcome variable because it is the outcome
that the research is studying. The researcher does not manipulate the dependent
variable.

Random Assignment
Research participants have to be randomly assigned to the sample groups. In other
words, each research participant must have an equal chance of being assigned to each
sample group. Random assignment is useful in that it assures that the differences in
the groups are due to chance. Research participants have to be randomly assigned to
either the control or experimental group.
Let us go back to Sarah's example to show what a true experiment looks like.

Example of a True Experiment

Sarah has come up with a hypothesis, or educated guess, as to what the relationship
between Drug X and anxiety are. Sarah's hypothesis is that Drug X causes a decrease
in anxiety. Sarah's independent, or predictor, variable is Drug X. Her dependent, or
outcome, variable is anxiety. Sarah will manipulate the dose of Drug X to see if it
causes a decrease in anxiety.
Sarah collects a random sample of 600 individuals who have completed a baseline
assessment and were found to have high levels of anxiety. She divides them into three
groups.
The first group is a control group, which will receive a sugar pill each day as a placebo.
A placebo is a substance that looks like a medication or some other treatment, but has
no therapeutic effect. The sugar pill looks like Drug X so that the control group will think
that they are being treated. This helps control for the placebo effect, which is when
participants improve just because they believe that they are receiving a treatment. If the
anxiety level of the individuals in the control group improves just as much or more than
the anxiety levels of the experimental groups, we can say that there is a placebo effect
and the reduction in anxiety is not caused by Drug X.
The second group is the low-dose experimental group. The participants in the second
group receive 100 mg of Drug X each day.
The third group is the high-dose experimental group. The participants in the third group
receive 250 mg of Drug X each day. Each of the 600 participants has an equal chance
of being assigned to any of the three groups.

True experimental design is regarded as the most accurate form of experimental

research, in that it tries to prove or disprove a hypothesis mathematically, with statistical
analysis.
For some of the physical sciences, such as physics, chemistry and geology, they are
standard and commonly used. For social sciences, psychology and biology, they can be
a little more difficult to set up.

For an experiment to be classed as a true experimental design, it must fit all of the
following criteria.
The sample groups must be assigned randomly.
There must be a viable control group.
Only one variable can be manipulated and tested. It is possible to test more than one,
but such experiments and their statistical analysis tend to be cumbersome and difficult.
The tested subjects must be randomly assigned to either control or experimental
groups.
Advantages:
The results of a true experimental design can be statistically analyzed and so there can
be little argument about the results.
It is also much easier for other researchers to replicate the experiment and validate the
results.
For physical sciences working with mainly numerical data, it is much easier to
manipulate one variable, so true experimental design usually gives a yes or no answer.

Disadvantages
Whilst perfect in principle, there are a number of problems with this type of design.
Firstly, they can be almost too perfect, with the conditions being under complete control
and not being representative of real world conditions.
For psychologists and behavioral biologists, for example, there can never be any
guarantee that a human or living organism will exhibit ‘normal’ behavior under
experimental conditions.
True experiments can be too accurate and it is very difficult to obtain a complete
rejection or acceptance of a hypothesis because the standards of proof required are so
difficult to reach.
True experiments are also difficult and expensive to set up. They can also be very
impractical.
While for some fields, like physics, there are not as many variables so the design is
easy, for social sciences and biological sciences, where variations are not so clearly
defined it is much more difficult to exclude other factors that may be affecting the
manipulated variable.
Summary
True experimental design is an integral part of science, usually acting as a final test of a
hypothesis. Whilst they can be cumbersome and expensive to set up, literature reviews,
qualitative research and descriptive research can serve as a good precursor to generate
a testable hypothesis, saving time and money.
Whilst they can be a little artificial and restrictive, they are the only type of research that
is accepted by all disciplines as statistically provable.