摘要：Conductedvs.ControlledExperiments:What'stheDifference? Experimentalresearchisacrucialaspectofscientificinquiry.Butwhenitcomestoconductingexperiments,therearetwo
Conductedvs.ControlledExperiments:What'stheDifference?
Experimentalresearchisacrucialaspectofscientificinquiry.Butwhenitcomestoconductingexperiments,therearetwomaintypes-conductedandcontrolledexperiments.Whilethetwosharesomesimilarities,theyhavesomesignificantdifferencesaswell.Inthisarticle,we'lltakeacloserlookatwhatsetsconductedexperimentsapartfromcontrolledones.
WhatareConductedExperiments?
Conductedexperimentsarestudiesinwhichresearcherscontrolandmanipulateoneormorevariablestoobservetheeffecttheyhaveonothervariables.Theseexperimentsusuallytakeplaceinalaboratorysetting,buttheycanalsooccurinthefield.Conductedexperimentsareusedtohelpdeterminecausalityandtesthypothesesinacontrolledenvironment.
Oneofthekeyfeaturesofconductedexperimentsisthattheyinvolverandomassignment.Thismeansthatparticipantsareassignedtogroupsatrandom,whichhelpstoensurethatthegroupsarecomparable.Conductedexperimentsalsooftenuseblindordouble-blinddesignstoreduceexperimenterbiasandincreasethevalidityofresults.
WhatareControlledExperiments?
Controlledexperimentsaresimilartoconductedexperimentsinthattheyalsoinvolvemanipulatingoneormorevariablestoobservetheeffecttheyhaveonothervariables.However,inacontrolledexperiment,researchershavecontroloverallaspectsoftheexperimentaldesign,includingtheenvironmentalconditions.Thismeansthattheexperimenttakesplaceinahighlycontrolledenvironment,whichhelpstoeliminateanyextraneousvariablesthatmayaffecttheresults.
Inacontrolledexperiment,theexperimentalgroupisexposedtothevariablebeingtested,whilethecontrolgroupisnot.Thecontrolgroupprovidesabaselineagainstwhichtheexperimentalgroupcanbecompared.Thishelpsresearcherstodeterminewhetherthevariablebeingtestedisresponsibleforanyobservedeffects.
What'stheDifference?
Themaindifferencebetweenconductedandcontrolledexperimentsisthelevelofcontrolthattheexperimenterhasovertheexperimentaldesign.Inconductedexperiments,researchershavesomecontroloverthedesign,butnotallaspectsofit.Forexample,conductedexperimentsmaytakeplaceinalaboratory,buttheenvironmentalconditionsmaynotbecompletelycontrolled.
Incontrast,controlledexperimentstakeplaceinahighlycontrolledenvironmentwhereresearchershavecontroloverallaspectsofthedesign,includingtheenvironmentalconditions.Thismakesiteasiertoeliminateanyextraneousvariablesthatmayaffecttheresultsandincreasesthevalidityofthefindings.
Insummary,bothconductedandcontrolledexperimentsareimportanttoolsforscientificinquiry.Whiletheysharesomesimilarities,controlledexperimentsofferahigherlevelofcontrolovertheexperimentaldesign,whichmakesiteasiertodeterminecausalityandtesthypotheses.
Ultimately,thechoicebetweenconductingaconductedoracontrolledexperimentwilldependontheresearchquestionbeingaskedandtheresourcesavailable.Byunderstandingthedifferencesbetweenthetwotypesofexperiments,researcherscanmakeinformeddecisionsaboutwhichapproachtotakewhendesigningtheirstudies.
