Data Collection Strategies
Learning Objectives
- Identify and differentiate between the various data collection strategies for experimental and non-experimental research;
- Differentiate between the experimental and the control group;
- Define what random assignment and explain its importance in an experiment;
- Describe two types of non-experimental research (quasi-experiment & correlational).
- Explain how internal validity can be affected by research design;
There are a variety of data collection strategies from which a researcher can choose. Choosing the data collection strategy is another important decision for the researcher. If the wrong strategy is chosen, it is likely that the researcher will not be able to answer the research question(s). In the following sections we will discuss three types of data collection strategies: experiments, quasi-experiments, and non-experimental.
