Quasi-Experimental Designs

Eugene F. Stone-Romero

One of the three basic experimental design types used in empirical research in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology and related disciplines is quasi-experimentation. Quasi-experimental designs are different from both randomized experimental designs and nonexperimental designs (see relevant entries in this volume). In the process of describing the nature of quasi-experimental designs, we make reference to a number of issues having to do with the validity of inferences stemming from research. These issues are covered in the entry on experimental designs in this encyclopedia. Quasi-experimental designs have a number of features. Taken together they serve to differentiate such designs from designs of the experimental and nonexperimental varieties. There are five major varieties of quasi-experimental designs, as noted by W. R. Shadish, T. D. Cook, and D. T. Campbell (2002). They differ from one another in terms of the use of comparison conditions, the use of pretests, and the degree to which they are ...

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