Response to Kyla

Hello, my name is Kyla, and I am a BSN to DNP PMHNP student. I moved to Florida last year and currently work as a psychiatric nurse in an acute inpatient unit. I will also attend Health & Psychiatry for Psychiatric Management II clinical this semester. In my free time, I enjoy baking, traveling, and walking my two senior dogs. Psychiatric medicine has always been my passion, and I feel grateful I can continue my education in an often overlooked field. I look forward to continuing my learning alongside my classmates in the coming months!

Study Design

Experimental research occurs when independent variables are modified with a subsequent change in dependent variables resulting in a measurable hypothesized change (Turner, 2020). The modification of the independent variable is often termed an experimental intervention, which often entails the introduction of a new behavioral, environmental, or pharmacological agent which sparks change (Turner, 2020). In experimental research, control and experimental groups are randomized to reduce the generalizability of the results (Turner, 2020).

The primary difference in quasi-experimental research is the lack of randomization when determining control and experimental groups (Turner, 2020). However, this also makes these studies less expensive with less required resources for conduction (Siedlecki, 2020). Additionally, these studies are beneficial when determining causation when experimental research may be unethical to conduct (Siedlecki, 2020).

Non-experimental research, also referred to as “observational” research, includes studies that examine participants in their natural environments (Chew, 2019). Some common study designs utilized in non-experimental research include cross-sectional, case-control, cohort, and comparative effectiveness studies (Chew, 2019).

Cause and Effect

To determine cause and effect, three primary conditions must be met to identify correlation versus causation. First, the cause must occur prior to the effect (Coleman, 2018). Moreover, it must be related to the effect. Finally, there must be no other reasonable explanation that may explain the cause-effect relationship (Coleman, 2018).

One possible scenario that would not allow a researcher to determine cause and effect would be the examination of storks in relation to the number of babies born. As Coleman (2018) mentioned, although the storks precede the birth of babies, it is unrelated and therefore would not meet this condition.

References:

Chew B. H. (2019). Planning and conducting clinical research: The whole process. Cureus, 11(2), e4112. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.4112

Coleman, R. (2018). Designing experiments for the social sciences: How to plan, create, and execute research using experiments. Sage Publications.

Siedlecki S. L. (2020). Quasi-experimental research designs. Clinical Nurse Specialist CNS, 34(5), 198–202. https://doi.org/10.1097/NUR.0000000000000540

Turner D. P. (2020). Experimental study designs. Headache, 60(8), 1501–1507. https://doi-org.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/10.1111/head.139