true experimental research topics

121+ Experimental Research Topics Across Different Disciplines

Experimental research is a cornerstone of scientific inquiry, providing a systematic approach to investigating phenomena and testing hypotheses. This method allows researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships, contributing valuable insights to diverse fields.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into the world of experimental research topics, exploring their significance, ethical considerations, and providing a rich array of ideas spanning psychology, biology, physics, and education.

Definition and Importance of Experimental Research

Table of Contents

At its core, experimental research involves manipulating one or more variables to observe the effects on another variable, while controlling for extraneous influences. This method is crucial in establishing causation, distinguishing it from correlational studies that merely identify relationships between variables.

Experimental research holds immense importance across various disciplines. 

• In psychology, it helps unravel the complexities of human behavior, cognition, and social dynamics. 
• In biology, it uncovers the mysteries of genetics, ecology, and environmental science. 
• Physics relies on experimental research to test and refine theories, while education benefits from insights into effective teaching methods and learning environments.

General Considerations for Experimental Research Topics

Before delving into specific topics, it’s essential to consider general principles when selecting experimental research ideas:

Ethical Considerations

Ethical guidelines are paramount in experimental research. Researchers must ensure the well-being of participants, obtain informed consent, and uphold confidentiality. Ethical considerations extend to the treatment of animals in biological experiments and the responsible use of technology in various fields.

Feasibility and Resources

Selecting research topics should align with available resources, including time, funding, and access to necessary equipment. Researchers must carefully assess the feasibility of their experiments and plan accordingly.

Relevance to Current Issues or Trends

To maximize the impact of experimental research, topics should address current issues or trends within a given field. This ensures that the findings contribute meaningfully to existing knowledge and potentially address real-world challenges.

121+ Experimental Research Topics in Different Categories

• The impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance
• Effects of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction
• Relationship between screen time and mental health in adolescents
• Influence of music tempo on productivity and mood
• Investigating the placebo effect in pain management
• The role of nutrition in cognitive function and memory
• Effects of color on consumer perceptions and behavior
• Impact of social support on recovery from traumatic events
• Examining the effectiveness of virtual reality in therapy
• The relationship between exercise and mental well-being
• Exploring the link between creativity and sleep patterns
• Effects of bilingualism on cognitive abilities
• Investigating the impact of social media on body image
• The role of laughter in stress reduction and health
• Effects of environmental factors on workplace productivity
• Examining the impact of video games on attention span
• Influence of weather on mood and emotional well-being
• Investigating the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy
• The relationship between personality traits and job satisfaction
• Effects of caffeine on cognitive performance and alertness
• Impact of childhood trauma on adult mental health
• The role of scent in influencing consumer behavior
• Investigating the effects of positive affirmations on self-esteem
• Examining the relationship between music and learning
• Effects of social isolation on mental and physical health
• The impact of exercise on the aging process
• Investigating the relationship between diet and depression
• Effects of technology use on interpersonal relationships
• Influence of parental involvement on academic achievement
• Examining the effects of nature exposure on stress reduction
• The relationship between personality and response to stress
• Impact of workplace design on employee satisfaction
• Investigating the effectiveness of art therapy in trauma recovery
• Effects of color in marketing and consumer behavior
• The role of emotional intelligence in leadership
• Examining the impact of gender stereotypes on career choices
• Influence of social support on weight loss and fitness goals
• Investigating the effects of video game violence on behavior
• The relationship between music and exercise performance
• Effects of mindfulness interventions on anxiety levels
• Impact of parental involvement in early childhood education
• Examining the effectiveness of peer mentoring programs
• Effects of environmental noise on cognitive performance
• Influence of social media on political opinions and beliefs
• Investigating the relationship between gratitude and well-being
• The role of humor in coping with stress and adversity
• Effects of aroma therapy on sleep quality and relaxation
• Impact of workplace diversity on team performance
• Examining the relationship between humor and creativity
• Influence of cultural factors on mental health stigma
• Investigating the effects of technology on sleep patterns
• The relationship between personality and response to pain
• Effects of nature exposure on creativity and problem-solving
• Impact of parental involvement on childhood development
• Examining the effectiveness of group therapy for depression
• Influence of social media on political polarization
• Investigating the effects of social exclusion on behavior
• The role of nutrition in athletic performance and recovery
• Effects of positive reinforcement on behavior modification
• Impact of workplace flexibility on employee satisfaction
• Examining the relationship between gratitude and happiness
• Influence of social support on cardiovascular health
• Investigating the effects of aromatherapy on stress levels
• The relationship between personality and response to medication
• Effects of mindfulness interventions on academic performance
• Impact of parental involvement on adolescent mental health
• Examining the effectiveness of peer support programs
• Influence of social media on body image dissatisfaction
• Investigating the effects of laughter therapy on well-being
• The role of scent in enhancing learning and memory
• Effects of positive affirmations on athletic performance
• Impact of workplace culture on employee mental health
• Examining the relationship between humor and resilience
• Influence of social support on weight management
• Investigating the effects of technology on social skills
• The relationship between personality and response to treatment
• Effects of nature exposure on mood and emotional well-being
• Impact of parental involvement on academic motivation
• Examining the effectiveness of art therapy for stress reduction
• Influence of social media on consumer purchasing decisions
• Investigating the effects of mindfulness on sleep quality
• The role of scent in enhancing emotional experiences
• Effects of positive affirmations on academic achievement
• Impact of workplace design on employee well-being
• Examining the relationship between humor and job satisfaction
• Influence of social support on coping with chronic illness
• Investigating the effects of technology on attention span
• The relationship between personality and response to stressors
• Effects of nature exposure on cognitive performance
• Impact of parental involvement on child behavior
• Examining the effectiveness of group therapy for anxiety
• Influence of social media on social connectedness
• Investigating the effects of social isolation on mental health
• The role of scent in enhancing cognitive performance
• Effects of positive affirmations on goal achievement
• Impact of workplace diversity on organizational performance
• Examining the relationship between humor and team dynamics
• Influence of social support on academic success
• Investigating the effects of technology on sleep quality
• The relationship between personality and response to challenges
• Effects of nature exposure on creativity and innovation
• Impact of parental involvement on adolescent behavior
• Examining the effectiveness of art therapy for trauma recovery
• Influence of social media on political engagement
• Investigating the effects of mindfulness on emotional regulation
• Effects of positive affirmations on stress resilience
• Impact of workplace culture on employee satisfaction
• Examining the relationship between humor and job performance
• Influence of social support on coping with grief
• Investigating the effects of technology on social relationships
• The relationship between personality and response to therapy
• Effects of nature exposure on mood and psychological well-being
• Impact of parental involvement on academic achievement motivation
• Influence of social media on body image and self-esteem
• The role of scent in enhancing cognitive performance and memory
• Effects of positive affirmations on athletic performance and motivation
• Impact of workplace design on employee mental and physical well-being
• Examining the relationship between humor and workplace satisfaction

Tips for Selecting Experimental Research Topics

Interest and Passion

• Choose a topic that genuinely interests you. Your enthusiasm for the subject will sustain you through the research process.
• Consider areas of personal or professional passion, as this can drive motivation and dedication.
• Ensure that your chosen topic is relevant to your field of study. Consider current trends, emerging issues, or gaps in existing knowledge that your research could address.

Feasibility

• Assess the feasibility of your research topic in terms of time, resources, and accessibility. Ensure you have the means to conduct the experiments and gather data effectively.
• Look for gaps or areas with limited research in your chosen field. Novelty in your research can contribute significantly to academic discussions and the advancement of knowledge.

Practicality

• Consider the practical implications of your research. Can the findings be applied in real-world situations? Practical relevance adds value to your work.
• Ensure that your research adheres to ethical guidelines. Consider the potential impact on human subjects, animals, or the environment and address these concerns appropriately.

Collaboration Opportunities

• Explore the possibility of collaborating with experts in related fields. Interdisciplinary research can provide a broader perspective and enhance the impact of your work.

Literature Review

• Conduct a thorough literature review to understand existing research on the chosen topic. Identify gaps, controversies, or areas where further exploration is needed.
• Define the scope of your research clearly. Ensure that the topic is neither too broad nor too narrow. A well-defined scope allows for focused and meaningful investigation.

Methodology

• Consider the methodologies you will use in your experiments. Ensure they are appropriate for the research question and feasible given your resources.
• Consider the potential impact of your research. Will it contribute significantly to the field, address practical problems, or open avenues for further exploration?

Consultation

• Discuss your ideas with mentors, colleagues, or experts in the field. Their insights can help refine your topic and provide valuable perspectives.

Accessibility of Data

• Ensure that the data required for your experiments is accessible. If your research involves data collection, make sure you can obtain the necessary information.

Peer Review

• Share your proposed topics with peers or advisors and seek feedback. Constructive criticism can help refine your ideas and identify potential challenges.

Flexibility

• Be open to adjusting your research topic based on evolving circumstances or new insights. Flexibility is crucial in the dynamic landscape of research.

Experimental research topics form the bedrock of scientific advancement, driving our understanding of the world and contributing to innovations across disciplines. As we explore the vast landscape of experimental research, it’s crucial to recognize the ethical considerations, feasibility, and relevance of chosen topics. 

Whether probing the intricacies of the human mind, unraveling the mysteries of the natural world, or enhancing educational practices, experimental research continues to push the boundaries of knowledge and shape the future of scientific inquiry. 

As researchers embark on these explorations, they contribute not only to their respective fields but also to the collective pursuit of understanding and progress.

Related Posts

Step by Step Guide on The Best Way to Finance Car

The Best Way on How to Get Fund For Business to Grow it Efficiently

143 Experiment Research Topics

Welcome to our collection of experimental research topics! Experiments are the cornerstone of empirical research, allowing scholars to test hypotheses and expand knowledge. With our experimental research questions ideas, you can uncover the diverse realms of empirical studies, from the natural sciences to social sciences and beyond.

🧪 7 Best Experimental Research Questions Ideas

🏆 best experimental research topics, 💡 simple experimental essay titles, 👍 catchy experimental research questions ideas, ❓ more experimental research questions ideas, 🎓 interesting experimental research topics.

• Bean Seed Germination Experiment Results
• Archimedes’ Principle Experiment: Determining Gravity of Objects
• Water Quality and Contamination Experiment Report
• Static and Kinetic Friction: A Lab Experiment
• Physical Health Indicator: Pulse Rate Experiment
• “Stanford Prison Experiment Ethics” by Philip Zimbardo
• Experiment: Flame Test and Chemical Fingerprinting
• Ideal Gas Expansion Law: Experiment The purpose of the experiment was to understand the differences between different types of ideal gas expansions, paying attention to the amount of work done.
• Human Transport Systems: The Pulse Rate Experiment The report provides an analysis of the pulse rate experiment aimed at determining the pulse rates before and after a five-minute exercise conducted by the researcher.
• Kant’s Ethical Philosophy and Milgram’s Experiments The problem for Kant’s ethical philosophy is whether moral principles are applicable to nonhumans, such as Galacticans.
• Chemical Experiment on Enzyme Amylase This paper presents an experiment that was conducted to determine the activity of amylase on starch at various pH levels.
• Fiji Water Quality: Biology Lab Experiment Since Fiji water is among the popular brands in the US, it is essential to evaluate whether it is clean, that is, safe for human consumption.
• Scientific Report Draft on Osmosis Egg Experiment Understanding how an egg reacts when placed in solutions of different concentrations enables one to understand the role of osmosis in the human body.
• Metal and Non-metal Redox Reactions Experiment The following experiment aimed to investigate Redox reaction and hence determine which elements were reactive; metal v. metal redox reactions, and non-metal v. non-metal reactions.
• Helicopter Experiment Assessment This report of a paper helicopter experiment involved designating a paper helicopter in varied designs and then dropping it severally while recording the flight time.
• Why People Obey Authority: Milgram Experiment and Real-World Situation Human beings would obey authority depending on the overall rewards, potential personal gains, and the consequences of failing to do so.
• Miles Davis and Steve Reich: Geniuses of Experiments and Creativity Although Miles Davis’ and Steve Reich’s music belongs to different genres, they are connected in their constant search for a new sound by experimenting and improvising.
• John Watson and the “Little Albert” Experiment John Watson is considered to be the founder of behaviorism, a psychological theory that focuses on visible behavior while diminishing the notion of consciousness.
• Should Animals Be Used for Scientific Experiments? Unfortunately, at the moment, the use of animals in science and medicine cannot be excluded entirely. However, it is possible to conduct experiments using mathematical models.
• Hawthorne Experiments – Elton Mayo With Roethlisberger and Dickson The Hawthorne theories have brought about a positive change in the behavior and attitude of the managers as well as the workers.
• Conducting a Titration Experiment Titration studies are conducted to quantify the amount of an unidentified element in the sample using a methodological approach.
• Air Pressure Experiment Methods and Results The plastic mesh fabric was placed over the mouth of the Mason jar, and the metal screw band of the latter was fastened firmly over the plastic mesh sheet.
• Unethical Research Experiments Violation of ethical principles can be traced in two analyzed cases; only in Landis’s experiment harm and killing were real in relation to animals.
• The Use of Animals in Psychological Experiments The method of experimentation is of great significance for multiple fields of psychology, especially for the behaviorist branch.
• Social Experiment: Informal Norms of Gender Issues The social experiment presents a contradiction between the socially-accepted norms and the understanding of equality between men and women.
• Psychology: Milgram Obedience Experiment Milgram’s experiment may be the last psychological experiment that has had a significant impact on psychology and public opinion.
• Metrology Experiment with Measurement Tools The experiment concerned testing the efficacy of the measurement tools such as the Vernier caliper, a depth gauge, a micrometer, and a gauge in an uncertainty analysis.
• Pasture Experiment: Fertiliser Treatments Response This work is an experiment that defines the role of fertilizers in pasture production and to establish the appropriate use of pasture sampling to assess pasture mass.
• Isopods and Their Use in Experiments Isopod is a large family belonging to the crayfish order. The fact that isopods are good to use in various experiments is related to their habitat.
• P. Zimbardo’s Stanford Experiment A psychological experiment is an event conducted to acquire new scientific knowledge about psychology through the researcher’s deliberate intervention in the life of the examinee.
• Ideal Experiment Design: Independent and Dependent Variables This work describes the ideal experiment, that is designed to verify the causal relationship between independent and dependent variables.
• Ethical Analysis of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments The Tuskegee Syphilis Study failed to take into account several critical ethical considerations. This essay examines some of the ethical problems linked to the investigation.
• Osmosis Experiment With Parsnip Through Differing Concentration of Sucrose
• Identifying the Benefits of Home Ownership: A Swedish Experiment
• Experiment for Cancer Risk Factors
• Hydrochloric Acid Into Tubes of Water and Sodium Thiosulphate Experiment
• General Information about Monkey Drug Trials Experiment
• Reaction Rates Experiment Hydrochloric Acid
• Hydrochloric Acid and Marble Chips Experiment
• Physical Disability and Labor Market Discrimination: Evidence From a Field Experiment
• Canadian Advanced Nanosatellite Experiment Biology
• Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment: Reality or Illusion
• Experiment and Multi-Grid Modeling of Evacuation From a Classroom
• High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Experiment
• Social Capital and Contributions in a Public-Goods Experiment
• Illusory Gains From Chile’s Targeted School Voucher Experiment
• Short Selling and Earnings Management: A Controlled Experiment
• Theft and Rural Poverty: Results of a Natural Experiment
• Lab Experiment: The Effectiveness of Different Antibiotics on Bacteria
• Brucellosis and Its Treatment: Experiment With Doxycycline
• The Link Between Stanford Prison Experiment and Milgram Study
• Four Fundamental Results From the Mice Experiment
• Acoustics Experiment in Brunel’s Thames Tunnel In this project, tunnels that exist below London streets for a variety of communications, civil defense, and military purposes will be used as the objects of the experiment.
• Virtue Ethics in Stanford and Milgram’s Experiments This paper investigates the notion of virtue ethics, discussing two major studies, the Stanford prison experiment, and Milgram’s obedience studies.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford prison experiment is an example of how outside social situations influence changes in thought and behavior among humans.
• Situation, Institutional Norms, and Roles: The Stanford Experiment of Zimbardo Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Experiment brought him critical acclaim. At the same time, it accorded him a certain level of notoriety; because of the methodologies he utilized to conduct the experiment.
• Inductor-Capacitor-Resistor Circuit Experiment The article presents the experiment that will demonstrate the relationship between an inductor, voltmeter, and resistor in an inductor-capacitor-resistor (LCR) circuit.
• Ethical Implications of the Early Studies in Psychology: Milgram’s Experiment Milgram’s experiment on obedience content and results are valuable for understanding the ethical issues that may occur in social and behavioral research.
• Experiment on Effect of Energy Drinks on Athletic Performance Experimental research is a study that a researcher sets up to evaluate a given situation, such as a drug or treatment intervention.
• Putnam’s “Twin Earth” Thought-Experiment Throughout the history of analytic philosophy, the problem of meaning has been and remains one of its central themes.
• Stanford Prison Experiment: Behind the Mask Stanford Prison Experiment organized by Stanford researcher Philip Zimbardo led to a strong public response and still discussed today.
• A Hypothesis and an Experiment: A Case Study On the control experiment, there would be a seed grown at normal aeration, and wind conditions. All should have a viable bean seed planted centrally on watered soil preferably.
• Extraneous Variables in Experiments There are some variables in experiments besides the independent variables that usually cause a variation or a change to the dependent variables.
• Social Experiment: Wrong Outfit in a Wedding Event The attendees of the wedding event displayed disappointment, discomfort, and open resentment towards the dressing style.
• Scientific Experiments on Animals from Ethical Perspectives This paper discusses using animals in scientific experiments from the consequentialist, Kantian deontological and Donna Yarri’s Christian character-based perspectives.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment Analysis Abuse between guards and prisoners is an imminent factor attributed to the differential margin on duties and responsibilities.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment’s Historical Record The Stanford Prison Experiment is a seminal investigation into the dynamics of peer pressure in human psychology.
• Socioeconomic Status and Sentencing Severity Experiment There are two types of validity threats: external and internal. External validity refers to the degree to which the study can be applied to situations outside the research context.
• Psychology: Zimbardo Prison Experiment Despite all the horrors that contradict ethics, Zimbardo’s research contributed to the formation of social psychology. It was unethical to conduct this experiment.
• Post-Covid Adaptation Laboratory Experiment The goal of the laboratory experiment that this paper will outline is to test the hypothesis about the needs of senior citizens in the post-pandemic era.
• Predicting the Replicability of Social Science Lab Experiments The quality of work is the most significant factor for any academic organization. A research process for any scientific project requires careful evaluation of information sources.
• Moral Dilemma and Thought Experiments The aim of this essay is to set up a thought experiment in which a moral dilemma must be resolved. A person is invited to make a choice as a result of which people should suffer.
• Experiments in High-Frequency Trading High-frequency trading (HFT) is becoming increasingly popular with private businesses and traders. HFT allows traders to make transactions within fractions of seconds.
• The Ethical Issues in 1940’s U.S. Experiments With Syphilis in Guatemala The Guatemala tests have been viewed as a dark side of the U.S. clinical examination: in the 1940s, they purposely uncovered over 5,000 individuals with syphilis and gonorrhea.
• Sociological Experiment: The Salience of Social Norms Based on the sociological experiment described in the paper, the author demonstrated the salience of social norms that exist in our culture.
• Thought Experiment: The Morality of Human Actions A thought experiment aimed at assessing the morality of human actions motivated by divine punishment or reward raises the question of morality and religion correlation.
• Blue-Eyed vs. Brown-Eyed Experiment Elliot exposed the learners to discrimination, in which blue-eyed children were initially preferred and given more privileges in the classroom than brown-eyed students.
• Experiment: Science Meets Real Life The experiment involves the sequential study of the dog’s behavior and its reaction to a change in some factors, such as food and bowl.
• Smoking: An Idea for a Statistical Experiment The hypothesis is that people who smoke cigarettes daily tend to earn more than others: this is a personal observation that requires careful experimental testing.
• The Stanford Jail Experiment Critiques One of the most important critiques leveled at the Stanford Jail Experiment is the length of time it took Zimbardo to call a halt to the experiment.
• Super Size Me and Jogn Cisna Experiments In comparison to Super Size Me, the experiment of John Cisna immediately stands out with a positive attitude towards fast food.
• The Milgram Experiment: Ethical Issues The Milgram experiment is a controversial study on the subject of obedience to authority figures. The participants were asked to deliver electric shocks to other people.
• Health and Medicine: Experiments and Discussions In the first experiment, researchers tested the subjectivity of polygraph examiners’ assessments. The specialist was given a specific name before the test began to do it.
• “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment – The Deadly Deception”: Unethical Scientific Experiment “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment – The Deadly Deception” reviews an unethical scientific experiment on humans that was conducted by White physicians on African-Americans.
• Can Nonrandomized Experiments Yield Accurate Answers?
• What Kind of Experiments Are Done on Animals?
• Is It Good to Use Animals for Experiments?
• What Are the Types of Experiments?
• Is There Any Healthy Way to Experiment With Drugs?
• What Are the Top Experiments of All Time?
• Are Breaching Experiments Ethical?
• What Does It Mean to Experiment With a Drug?
• Why Do We Use Factorial Experiments?
• How Does Temperature Affect the Rate of Reaction Experiment?
• What Are the Easiest Experiments to Do?
• How Can Rushing Harm the Data and the Experiment Overall?
• What Are the Steps to a Science Experiment?
• How Do Errors Affect the Experiment?
• What Is the Purpose of the Wax Experiment and What Conclusion Does Descartes Reach on Its Basis?
• Can an Experiment Be Invalid but Reliable?
• What Is the Most Influential Experiment in Psychology?
• Why Are Fruit Flies Used for Experiments?
• How Can You Improve the Accuracy of an Experiment?
• What Was Galileo’s Famous Cannonball Drop Experiment?
• What Can Knowledge Be Gained From Conducting a Breaching Experiment?
• How Do You Identify the Independent and Dependent Variables in an Experiment?
• What Was Griffith’s Experiment and Why Was It Important?
• What Is the Difference Between Contingent Valuation and Choice Experiment?
• What Is the Choice Experiment Valuation Method?
• An Experiment in DNA Cloning and Sequencing The aim of this experiment is to clone a fragment of DNA that includes the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene into the vector pTTQ18, which is an expression vector.
• Lab Experiment on Animals’ Taste or Smell Senses The hypothesis of the study is that taste perception and detection of different sugars by insects were similar to that of humans.
• An Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay Experiment In our society presently, immunoassay techniques used in data analyses have assumed a place of high significance, particularly as it applies to pure/applied research.
• Anaerobic Threshold: An Experiment Anaerobic Threshold refers to the minimum level below which no increase in blood lactose can occur. At levels above AT, supplementing aerobic production needs aerobic energy.
• Comparative Effectiveness of Various Surfactants: Experiment Surfactants refer to chemical substances that lessen the surface tension in water. This experiment aimed at establishing the comparative effectiveness of various surfactants.
• An Experiment on Data Mining Extend This experiment aims to utilize knowledge and principles of data mining in depicting the investigation of emergent data in biology- particularly on the development of ELISAs.
• Bolted & Welded Connections and Tension Experiment Exploring and comparing the expected and actual failure modes of both bottled and welded connections in tension are the primary purposes of the paper.
• Lab Experiment on Photovoltaics The experiment was done specifically to ascertain how various connected units could be coordinated to give a more reliable and controllable functioning.
• Mind Control: Ethics of the Experiment The topics of mind control and free will has always been seen as a morally grey area in terms of its research potential.
• A Personal Behavior Modification Experiment Using Operant Conditioning This research paper points out the positive outcomes of swearing: it can relieve stress and help one cope with emotional work.
• Jane Elliott’s Experiment on Discrimination The teacher Jane Elliott from Iowa decided to conduct an experiment demonstrating to her students what discrimination is and what it feels like.
• The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment When the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was begun, over 75 years ago, no such principles were officially in place.
• The Power of Conformity: Asch’s Experiments The article examines a series of experiments by Asch that helped him identify the factors influencing social conformity.
• The Critical Characteristics of an Experiment The main aim of this assignment is to evaluate the thought control experiment by famous psychologist Ellen Langer and determine whether it is a qualitative experiment.
• Milgram Experiment: The Question of Ethics This essay will discuss the Milgram experiment and also argue that it was ethical as medical research standards were met, and no undue harm to the participants was caused.
• Boston’s Experiment: Harvard Business Review’s Lessons In Harvard Business Review’s Lessons from Boston’s Experiment with The One Fund, Mitchell discusses his experience with fund distribution to the victims of the Boston bombing.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment Review The video presents an experiment held in 1971. In general, a viewer can observe that people are subjected to behavior and opinion change when affected by others.
• The Way to Come To Terms With Yourself: Social Distancing Experiment In this work, the author describes the course and results of an experiment on social distance: refusal to use gadgets, any communication, and going out.
• Experiment: Bacteria vs Antibiotics The experiment aimed was to test the reaction of bacteria towards some antibiotics and determine the effectiveness of those antibiotics in treating some diseases.
• Ethics: Experiments on Animals Industrial and biomedical research is often painful and most of the test ends up killing the animals. Experiments such as these often incur the wrath of the animal rights movement.
• Impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment Have on Psychology This essay will begin with a brief description of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment then it will move to explore two main issues that arose from the said experiment.
• Medical Pharmacology: The Langendorff Experiment The Langendorff experiment aimed at using an ex vivo isolated rat heart preparation to demonstrate the pharmacological effects of two unknown drugs.
• Studying Organisations: The Hawthorne Experiments The Hawthorn experiments marked a new direction in research of motivation and productivity. More than half a century has passed, and productivity remains a concern of management.
• Chemistry of Cooking. Saffron Rice Experiment This research project outlines an experiment that aims to determine the temperature at which Saffron rice turns yellow.
• Evaluation of the Stanford Prison Experiment’ Role The Stanford Prison Experiment is a study that was conducted on August 20, 1971 by a group of researchers headed by the psychology professor Philip Zimbardo.
• Heat Transfer Rates in a Hot Jet: Experiment The experiment is aimed at determining the heat transfer rates in a hot jet. The reasons for the hot jet to have different heat rates in different areas will be determined.
• Inattentive Blindness in Psychological Experiment The features of the human consciousness not to notice quite obvious changes are natural and innate. Such blindness can be caused by several factors.
• An Observable Experiment: Control Over the Variables An observable experiment is defined as the experiment in which the independent variables cannot possibly be controlled by the person or person setting the test.
• Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: Ethical Controversy Tuskegee case set the background for the reconsideration of healthcare ethics, which means that the ethical value of the given case deserves reconsideration.
• Gender Stereotyping Experiment: The Level of Gender Stereotyping in Society The present study measures the effects of stereotyping women. It examines the first impression formed by subjects based on the information about a fictitious man or a woman.
• Psychological Studies and Experiments: Code of Conduct The following paper is based on past psychological studies i.e. Stanly Milgram’s ‘Obedience Experiment’, Philip Zimbardo’s ‘Stanford Prison Experiment, and Jane Elliott’s ‘Class Divided’.
• Using Animals in Medical Experiments This paper explores how the principles of the character-based ethical approach can be applied to the discussion of using animals in the medical research and experiments.
• The Stanford Experiment by Philip Zimbardo Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Experiment shows that situational power and norms dictate the behavior of the individual more than the core beliefs that made up his personal identity.

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, December 21). 143 Experiment Research Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/experiment-essay-topics/

"143 Experiment Research Topics." StudyCorgi , 21 Dec. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/experiment-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '143 Experiment Research Topics'. 21 December.

1. StudyCorgi . "143 Experiment Research Topics." December 21, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/experiment-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "143 Experiment Research Topics." December 21, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/experiment-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "143 Experiment Research Topics." December 21, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/experiment-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Experiment were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 22, 2024 .

10 Real-Life Experimental Research Examples

Experimental research is research that involves using a scientific approach to examine research variables.

Below are some famous experimental research examples. Some of these studies were conducted quite a long time ago. Some were so controversial that they would never be attempted today. And some were so unethical that they would never be permitted again.

A few of these studies have also had very practical implications for modern society involving criminal investigations, the impact of television and the media, and the power of authority figures.

Examples of Experimental Research

1. pavlov’s dog: classical conditioning.

Dr. Ivan Pavlov was a physiologist studying animal digestive systems in the 1890s. In one study, he presented food to a dog and then collected its salivatory juices via a tube attached to the inside of the animal’s mouth.

As he was conducting his experiments, an annoying thing kept happening; every time his assistant would enter the lab with a bowl of food for the experiment, the dog would start to salivate at the sound of the assistant’s footsteps.

Although this disrupted his experimental procedures, eventually, it dawned on Pavlov that something else was to be learned from this problem.

Pavlov learned that animals could be conditioned into responding on a physiological level to various stimuli, such as food, or even the sound of the assistant bringing the food down the hall.

Hence, the creation of the theory of classical conditioning. One of the most influential theories in psychology still to this day.

2. Bobo Doll Experiment: Observational Learning

Dr. Albert Bandura conducted one of the most influential studies in psychology in the 1960s at Stanford University.

His intention was to demonstrate that cognitive processes play a fundamental role in learning. At the time, Behaviorism was the predominant theoretical perspective, which completely rejected all inferences to constructs not directly observable .

So, Bandura made two versions of a video. In version #1, an adult behaved aggressively with a Bobo doll by throwing it around the room and striking it with a wooden mallet. In version #2, the adult played gently with the doll by carrying it around to different parts of the room and pushing it gently.

After showing children one of the two versions, they were taken individually to a room that had a Bobo doll. Their behavior was observed and the results indicated that children that watched version #1 of the video were far more aggressive than those that watched version #2.

Not only did Bandura’s Bobo doll study form the basis of his social learning theory, it also helped start the long-lasting debate about the harmful effects of television on children.

Worth Checking Out: What’s the Difference between Experimental and Observational Studies?

3. The Asch Study: Conformity  

Dr. Solomon Asch was interested in conformity and the power of group pressure. His study was quite simple. Different groups of students were shown lines of varying lengths and asked, “which line is longest.”

However, out of each group, only one was an actual participant. All of the others in the group were working with Asch and instructed to say that one of the shorter lines was actually the longest.

Nearly every time, the real participant gave an answer that was clearly wrong, but the same as the rest of the group.

The study is one of the most famous in psychology because it demonstrated the power of social pressure so clearly.  

4. Car Crash Experiment: Leading Questions

In 1974, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus and her undergraduate student John Palmer designed a study to examine how fallible human judgement is under certain conditions.

They showed groups of research participants videos that depicted accidents between two cars. Later, the participants were asked to estimate the rate of speed of the cars.

Here’s the interesting part. All participants were asked the same question with the exception of a single word: “How fast were the two cars going when they ______into each other?” The word in the blank varied in its implied severity.

Participants’ estimates were completely affected by the word in the blank. When the word “smashed” was used, participants estimated the cars were going much faster than when the word “contacted” was used. 

This line of research has had a huge impact on law enforcement interrogation practices, line-up procedures, and the credibility of eyewitness testimony .

5. The 6 Universal Emotions

The research by Dr. Paul Ekman has been influential in the study of emotions. His early research revealed that all human beings, regardless of culture, experience the same 6 basic emotions: happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger.

In the late 1960s, Ekman traveled to Papua New Guinea. He approached a tribe of people that were extremely isolated from modern culture. With the help of a guide, he would describe different situations to individual members and take a photo of their facial expressions.

The situations included: if a good friend had come; their child had just died; they were about to get into a fight; or had just stepped on a dead pig.

The facial expressions of this highly isolated tribe were nearly identical to those displayed by people in his studies in California.

6. The Little Albert Study: Development of Phobias  

Dr. John Watson and Dr. Rosalie Rayner sought to demonstrate how irrational fears were developed.

Their study involved showing a white rat to an infant. Initially, the child had no fear of the rat. However, the researchers then began to create a loud noise each time they showed the child the rat by striking a steel bar with a hammer.

Eventually, the child started to cry and feared the white rat. The child also developed a fear of other white, furry objects such as white rabbits and a Santa’s beard.

This study is famous because it demonstrated one way in which phobias are developed in humans, and also because it is now considered highly unethical for its mistreatment of children, lack of study debriefing , and intent to instil fear.  

7. A Class Divided: Discrimination

Perhaps one of the most famous psychological experiments of all time was not conducted by a psychologist. In 1968, third grade teacher Jane Elliott conducted one of the most famous studies on discrimination in history. It took place shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

She divided her class into two groups: brown-eyed and blue-eyed students. On the first day of the experiment, she announced the blue-eyed group as superior. They received extra privileges and were told not to intermingle with the brown-eyed students.

They instantly became happier, more self-confident, and started performing better academically.

The next day, the roles were reversed. The brown-eyed students were announced as superior and given extra privileges. Their behavior changed almost immediately and exhibited the same patterns as the other group had the day before.

This study was a remarkable demonstration of the harmful effects of discrimination.

8. The Milgram Study: Obedience to Authority

Dr. Stanley Milgram conducted one of the most influential experiments on authority and obedience in 1961 at Yale University.

Participants were told they were helping study the effects of punishment on learning. Their job was to administer an electric shock to another participant each time they made an error on a test. The other participant was actually an actor in another room that only pretended to be shocked.

However, each time a mistake was made, the level of shock was supposed to increase, eventually reaching quite high voltage levels. When the real participants expressed reluctance to administer the next level of shock, the experimenter, who served as the authority figure in the room, pressured the participant to deliver the next level of shock.

The results of this study were truly astounding. A surprisingly high percentage of participants continued to deliver the shocks to the highest level possible despite the very strong objections by the “other participant.”

This study demonstrated the power of authority figures.

9. The Marshmallow Test: Delay of Gratification

The Marshmallow Test was designed by Dr. Walter Mischel to examine the role of delay of gratification and academic success.

Children ages 4-6 years old were seated at a table with one marshmallow placed in front of them. The experimenter explained that if they did not eat the marshmallow, they would receive a second one. They could then eat both.

The children that were able to delay gratification the longest were rated as significantly more competent later in life and earned higher SAT scores than children that could not withstand the temptation.  

The study has since been conceptually replicated by other researchers that have revealed additional factors involved in delay of gratification and academic achievement.

10. Stanford Prison Study: Deindividuation

Dr. Philip Zimbardo conducted one of the most famous psychological studies of all time in 1971. The purpose of the study was to investigate how the power structure in some situations can lead people to behave in ways highly uncharacteristic of their usual behavior.

College students were recruited to participate in the study. Some were randomly assigned to play the role of prison guard. The others were actually “arrested” by real police officers. They were blindfolded and taken to the basement of the university’s psychology building which had been converted to look like a prison.

Although the study was supposed to last 2 weeks, it had to be halted due to the abusive actions of the guards.

The study demonstrated that people will behave in ways they never thought possible when placed in certain roles and power structures. Although the Stanford Prison Study is so well-known for what it revealed about human nature, it is also famous because of the numerous violations of ethical principles.

The studies above are varied and focused on many different aspects of human behavior . However, each example of experimental research listed above has had a lasting impact on society. Some have had tremendous sway in how very practical matters are conducted, such as criminal investigations and legal proceedings.

Psychology is a field of study that is often not fully understood by the general public. When most people hear the term “psychology,” they think of a therapist that listens carefully to the revealing statements of a patient. The therapist then tries to help their patient learn to cope with many of life’s challenges. Nothing wrong with that.

In reality however, most psychologists are researchers. They spend most of their time designing and conducting experiments to enhance our understanding of the human condition.

Asch SE. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: I. A minority of one against a unanimous majority . Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70 (9),1-70. https://doi.org/doi:10.1037/h0093718

Bandura A. (1965). Influence of models’ reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1 (6), 589-595. https://doi.org/doi:10.1037/h0022070

Beck, H. P., Levinson, S., & Irons, G. (2009). Finding little Albert: A journey to John B. Watson’s infant laboratory.  American Psychologist, 64(7),  605-614.

Ekman, P. & Friesen, W. V. (1971).  Constants Across Cultures in the Face and motion .  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17(2) , 124-129.

Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of

the interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal

Behavior, 13 (5), 585–589.

Milgram S (1965). Some Conditions of Obedience and Disobedience to Authority. Human Relations, 18(1), 57–76.

Mischel, W., & Ebbesen, E. B. (1970). Attention in delay of gratification . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16 (2), 329-337.

Pavlov, I.P. (1927). Conditioned Reflexes . London: Oxford University Press.

Watson, J. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional reactions.  Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3 , 1-14. Zimbardo, P., Haney, C., Banks, W. C., & Jaffe, D. (1971). The Stanford Prison Experiment: A simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment . Stanford University, Stanford Digital Repository, Stanford.

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Self-Actualization Examples (Maslow's Hierarchy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Forest Schools Philosophy & Curriculum, Explained!
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Montessori's 4 Planes of Development, Explained!
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Montessori vs Reggio Emilia vs Steiner-Waldorf vs Froebel

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Foundations
• Write Paper

Search form

• Experiments
• Anthropology
• Self-Esteem
• Social Anxiety

True Experimental Design

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.

This article is a part of the guide:

• Research Designs
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• Literature Review
• Quantitative Research Design

Browse Full Outline

• 1 Research Designs
• 2.1 Pilot Study
• 2.2 Quantitative Research Design
• 2.3 Qualitative Research Design
• 2.4 Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• 3.1 Case Study
• 3.2 Naturalistic Observation
• 3.3 Survey Research Design
• 3.4 Observational Study
• 4.1 Case-Control Study
• 4.2 Cohort Study
• 4.3 Longitudinal Study
• 4.4 Cross Sectional Study
• 4.5 Correlational Study
• 5.1 Field Experiments
• 5.2 Quasi-Experimental Design
• 5.3 Identical Twins Study
• 6.1 Experimental Design
• 6.2 True Experimental Design
• 6.3 Double Blind Experiment
• 6.4 Factorial Design
• 7.1 Literature Review
• 7.2 Systematic Reviews
• 7.3 Meta 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.

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.

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.

• Psychology 101
• Flags and Countries
• Capitals and Countries

Martyn Shuttleworth (Mar 24, 2008). True Experimental Design. Retrieved Jun 05, 2024 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/true-experimental-design

You Are Allowed To Copy The Text

The text in this article is licensed under the Creative Commons-License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) .

This means you're free to copy, share and adapt any parts (or all) of the text in the article, as long as you give appropriate credit and provide a link/reference to this page.

That is it. You don't need our permission to copy the article; just include a link/reference back to this page. You can use it freely (with some kind of link), and we're also okay with people reprinting in publications like books, blogs, newsletters, course-material, papers, wikipedia and presentations (with clear attribution).

Related articles

Quasi-Experimental Design

Design of Experiments

Experimental Research

Control Group

Hypothesis Testing

Want to stay up to date? Follow us!

Get all these articles in 1 guide.

Want the full version to study at home, take to school or just scribble on?

Whether you are an academic novice, or you simply want to brush up your skills, this book will take your academic writing skills to the next level.

Download electronic versions: - Epub for mobiles and tablets - PDF version here

Save this course for later

Don't have time for it all now? No problem, save it as a course and come back to it later.

Footer bottom

• Privacy Policy

• Subscribe to our RSS Feed
• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter

Experimental Research Design — 6 mistakes you should never make!

Since school days’ students perform scientific experiments that provide results that define and prove the laws and theorems in science. These experiments are laid on a strong foundation of experimental research designs.

An experimental research design helps researchers execute their research objectives with more clarity and transparency.

In this article, we will not only discuss the key aspects of experimental research designs but also the issues to avoid and problems to resolve while designing your research study.

Table of Contents

What Is Experimental Research Design?

Experimental research design is a framework of protocols and procedures created to conduct experimental research with a scientific approach using two sets of variables. Herein, the first set of variables acts as a constant, used to measure the differences of the second set. The best example of experimental research methods is quantitative research .

Experimental research helps a researcher gather the necessary data for making better research decisions and determining the facts of a research study.

When Can a Researcher Conduct Experimental Research?

A researcher can conduct experimental research in the following situations —

• When time is an important factor in establishing a relationship between the cause and effect.
• When there is an invariable or never-changing behavior between the cause and effect.
• Finally, when the researcher wishes to understand the importance of the cause and effect.

Importance of Experimental Research Design

To publish significant results, choosing a quality research design forms the foundation to build the research study. Moreover, effective research design helps establish quality decision-making procedures, structures the research to lead to easier data analysis, and addresses the main research question. Therefore, it is essential to cater undivided attention and time to create an experimental research design before beginning the practical experiment.

By creating a research design, a researcher is also giving oneself time to organize the research, set up relevant boundaries for the study, and increase the reliability of the results. Through all these efforts, one could also avoid inconclusive results. If any part of the research design is flawed, it will reflect on the quality of the results derived.

Types of Experimental Research Designs

Based on the methods used to collect data in experimental studies, the experimental research designs are of three primary types:

1. Pre-experimental Research Design

A research study could conduct pre-experimental research design when a group or many groups are under observation after implementing factors of cause and effect of the research. The pre-experimental design will help researchers understand whether further investigation is necessary for the groups under observation.

Pre-experimental research is of three types —

• One-shot Case Study Research Design
• One-group Pretest-posttest Research Design
• Static-group Comparison

2. True Experimental Research Design

A true experimental research design relies on statistical analysis to prove or disprove a researcher’s hypothesis. It is one of the most accurate forms of research because it provides specific scientific evidence. Furthermore, out of all the types of experimental designs, only a true experimental design can establish a cause-effect relationship within a group. However, in a true experiment, a researcher must satisfy these three factors —

• There is a control group that is not subjected to changes and an experimental group that will experience the changed variables
• A variable that can be manipulated by the researcher
• Random distribution of the variables

This type of experimental research is commonly observed in the physical sciences.

3. Quasi-experimental Research Design

The word “Quasi” means similarity. A quasi-experimental design is similar to a true experimental design. However, the difference between the two is the assignment of the control group. In this research design, an independent variable is manipulated, but the participants of a group are not randomly assigned. This type of research design is used in field settings where random assignment is either irrelevant or not required.

The classification of the research subjects, conditions, or groups determines the type of research design to be used.

Advantages of Experimental Research

Experimental research allows you to test your idea in a controlled environment before taking the research to clinical trials. Moreover, it provides the best method to test your theory because of the following advantages:

• Researchers have firm control over variables to obtain results.
• The subject does not impact the effectiveness of experimental research. Anyone can implement it for research purposes.
• The results are specific.
• Post results analysis, research findings from the same dataset can be repurposed for similar research ideas.
• Researchers can identify the cause and effect of the hypothesis and further analyze this relationship to determine in-depth ideas.
• Experimental research makes an ideal starting point. The collected data could be used as a foundation to build new research ideas for further studies.

6 Mistakes to Avoid While Designing Your Research

There is no order to this list, and any one of these issues can seriously compromise the quality of your research. You could refer to the list as a checklist of what to avoid while designing your research.

1. Invalid Theoretical Framework

Usually, researchers miss out on checking if their hypothesis is logical to be tested. If your research design does not have basic assumptions or postulates, then it is fundamentally flawed and you need to rework on your research framework.

2. Inadequate Literature Study

Without a comprehensive research literature review , it is difficult to identify and fill the knowledge and information gaps. Furthermore, you need to clearly state how your research will contribute to the research field, either by adding value to the pertinent literature or challenging previous findings and assumptions.

3. Insufficient or Incorrect Statistical Analysis

Statistical results are one of the most trusted scientific evidence. The ultimate goal of a research experiment is to gain valid and sustainable evidence. Therefore, incorrect statistical analysis could affect the quality of any quantitative research.

4. Undefined Research Problem

This is one of the most basic aspects of research design. The research problem statement must be clear and to do that, you must set the framework for the development of research questions that address the core problems.

5. Research Limitations

Every study has some type of limitations . You should anticipate and incorporate those limitations into your conclusion, as well as the basic research design. Include a statement in your manuscript about any perceived limitations, and how you considered them while designing your experiment and drawing the conclusion.

6. Ethical Implications

The most important yet less talked about topic is the ethical issue. Your research design must include ways to minimize any risk for your participants and also address the research problem or question at hand. If you cannot manage the ethical norms along with your research study, your research objectives and validity could be questioned.

Experimental Research Design Example

In an experimental design, a researcher gathers plant samples and then randomly assigns half the samples to photosynthesize in sunlight and the other half to be kept in a dark box without sunlight, while controlling all the other variables (nutrients, water, soil, etc.)

By comparing their outcomes in biochemical tests, the researcher can confirm that the changes in the plants were due to the sunlight and not the other variables.

Experimental research is often the final form of a study conducted in the research process which is considered to provide conclusive and specific results. But it is not meant for every research. It involves a lot of resources, time, and money and is not easy to conduct, unless a foundation of research is built. Yet it is widely used in research institutes and commercial industries, for its most conclusive results in the scientific approach.

Have you worked on research designs? How was your experience creating an experimental design? What difficulties did you face? Do write to us or comment below and share your insights on experimental research designs!

Frequently Asked Questions

Randomization is important in an experimental research because it ensures unbiased results of the experiment. It also measures the cause-effect relationship on a particular group of interest.

Experimental research design lay the foundation of a research and structures the research to establish quality decision making process.

There are 3 types of experimental research designs. These are pre-experimental research design, true experimental research design, and quasi experimental research design.

The difference between an experimental and a quasi-experimental design are: 1. The assignment of the control group in quasi experimental research is non-random, unlike true experimental design, which is randomly assigned. 2. Experimental research group always has a control group; on the other hand, it may not be always present in quasi experimental research.

Experimental research establishes a cause-effect relationship by testing a theory or hypothesis using experimental groups or control variables. In contrast, descriptive research describes a study or a topic by defining the variables under it and answering the questions related to the same.

good and valuable

Very very good

Good presentation.

Rate this article Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Enago Academy's Most Popular Articles

Ensuring Academic Integrity and Transparency in Academic Research: A comprehensive checklist for researchers

Academic integrity is the foundation upon which the credibility and value of scientific findings are…

• Publishing Research
• Reporting Research

How to Optimize Your Research Process: A step-by-step guide

For researchers across disciplines, the path to uncovering novel findings and insights is often filled…

• Industry News
• Trending Now

Breaking Barriers: Sony and Nature unveil “Women in Technology Award”

Sony Group Corporation and the prestigious scientific journal Nature have collaborated to launch the inaugural…

Achieving Research Excellence: Checklist for good research practices

Academia is built on the foundation of trustworthy and high-quality research, supported by the pillars…

• Promoting Research

Plain Language Summary — Communicating your research to bridge the academic-lay gap

Science can be complex, but does that mean it should not be accessible to the…

Choosing the Right Analytical Approach: Thematic analysis vs. content analysis for…

Comparing Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Studies: 5 steps for choosing the right…

Research Recommendations – Guiding policy-makers for evidence-based decision making

Sign-up to read more

Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including:

• 2000+ blog articles
• 50+ Webinars
• 10+ Expert podcasts
• 50+ Infographics
• 10+ Checklists
• Research Guides

We hate spam too. We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you.

I am looking for Editing/ Proofreading services for my manuscript Tentative date of next journal submission:

As a researcher, what do you consider most when choosing an image manipulation detector?

• Experimental Research Designs: Types, Examples & Methods

Experimental research is the most familiar type of research design for individuals in the physical sciences and a host of other fields. This is mainly because experimental research is a classical scientific experiment, similar to those performed in high school science classes.

Imagine taking 2 samples of the same plant and exposing one of them to sunlight, while the other is kept away from sunlight. Let the plant exposed to sunlight be called sample A, while the latter is called sample B.

If after the duration of the research, we find out that sample A grows and sample B dies, even though they are both regularly wetted and given the same treatment. Therefore, we can conclude that sunlight will aid growth in all similar plants.

What is Experimental Research?

Experimental research is a scientific approach to research, where one or more independent variables are manipulated and applied to one or more dependent variables to measure their effect on the latter. The effect of the independent variables on the dependent variables is usually observed and recorded over some time, to aid researchers in drawing a reasonable conclusion regarding the relationship between these 2 variable types.

The experimental research method is widely used in physical and social sciences, psychology, and education. It is based on the comparison between two or more groups with a straightforward logic, which may, however, be difficult to execute.

Mostly related to a laboratory test procedure, experimental research designs involve collecting quantitative data and performing statistical analysis on them during research. Therefore, making it an example of quantitative research method .

What are The Types of Experimental Research Design?

The types of experimental research design are determined by the way the researcher assigns subjects to different conditions and groups. They are of 3 types, namely; pre-experimental, quasi-experimental, and true experimental research.

Pre-experimental Research Design

In pre-experimental research design, either a group or various dependent groups are observed for the effect of the application of an independent variable which is presumed to cause change. It is the simplest form of experimental research design and is treated with no control group.

Although very practical, experimental research is lacking in several areas of the true-experimental criteria. The pre-experimental research design is further divided into three types

• One-shot Case Study Research Design

In this type of experimental study, only one dependent group or variable is considered. The study is carried out after some treatment which was presumed to cause change, making it a posttest study.

• One-group Pretest-posttest Research Design: 

This research design combines both posttest and pretest study by carrying out a test on a single group before the treatment is administered and after the treatment is administered. With the former being administered at the beginning of treatment and later at the end.

• Static-group Comparison: 

In a static-group comparison study, 2 or more groups are placed under observation, where only one of the groups is subjected to some treatment while the other groups are held static. All the groups are post-tested, and the observed differences between the groups are assumed to be a result of the treatment.

Quasi-experimental Research Design

  The word “quasi” means partial, half, or pseudo. Therefore, the quasi-experimental research bearing a resemblance to the true experimental research, but not the same.  In quasi-experiments, the participants are not randomly assigned, and as such, they are used in settings where randomization is difficult or impossible.

 This is very common in educational research, where administrators are unwilling to allow the random selection of students for experimental samples.

Some examples of quasi-experimental research design include; the time series, no equivalent control group design, and the counterbalanced design.

True Experimental Research Design

The true experimental research design relies on statistical analysis to approve or disprove a hypothesis. It is the most accurate type of experimental design and may be carried out with or without a pretest on at least 2 randomly assigned dependent subjects.

The true experimental research design must contain a control group, a variable that can be manipulated by the researcher, and the distribution must be random. The classification of true experimental design include:

• The posttest-only Control Group Design: In this design, subjects are randomly selected and assigned to the 2 groups (control and experimental), and only the experimental group is treated. After close observation, both groups are post-tested, and a conclusion is drawn from the difference between these groups.
• The pretest-posttest Control Group Design: For this control group design, subjects are randomly assigned to the 2 groups, both are presented, but only the experimental group is treated. After close observation, both groups are post-tested to measure the degree of change in each group.
• Solomon four-group Design: This is the combination of the pretest-only and the pretest-posttest control groups. In this case, the randomly selected subjects are placed into 4 groups.

The first two of these groups are tested using the posttest-only method, while the other two are tested using the pretest-posttest method.

Examples of Experimental Research

Experimental research examples are different, depending on the type of experimental research design that is being considered. The most basic example of experimental research is laboratory experiments, which may differ in nature depending on the subject of research.

Administering Exams After The End of Semester

During the semester, students in a class are lectured on particular courses and an exam is administered at the end of the semester. In this case, the students are the subjects or dependent variables while the lectures are the independent variables treated on the subjects.

Only one group of carefully selected subjects are considered in this research, making it a pre-experimental research design example. We will also notice that tests are only carried out at the end of the semester, and not at the beginning.

Further making it easy for us to conclude that it is a one-shot case study research. 

Employee Skill Evaluation

Before employing a job seeker, organizations conduct tests that are used to screen out less qualified candidates from the pool of qualified applicants. This way, organizations can determine an employee’s skill set at the point of employment.

In the course of employment, organizations also carry out employee training to improve employee productivity and generally grow the organization. Further evaluation is carried out at the end of each training to test the impact of the training on employee skills, and test for improvement.

Here, the subject is the employee, while the treatment is the training conducted. This is a pretest-posttest control group experimental research example.

Evaluation of Teaching Method

Let us consider an academic institution that wants to evaluate the teaching method of 2 teachers to determine which is best. Imagine a case whereby the students assigned to each teacher is carefully selected probably due to personal request by parents or due to stubbornness and smartness.

This is a no equivalent group design example because the samples are not equal. By evaluating the effectiveness of each teacher’s teaching method this way, we may conclude after a post-test has been carried out.

However, this may be influenced by factors like the natural sweetness of a student. For example, a very smart student will grab more easily than his or her peers irrespective of the method of teaching.

What are the Characteristics of Experimental Research?  

Experimental research contains dependent, independent and extraneous variables. The dependent variables are the variables being treated or manipulated and are sometimes called the subject of the research.

The independent variables are the experimental treatment being exerted on the dependent variables. Extraneous variables, on the other hand, are other factors affecting the experiment that may also contribute to the change.

The setting is where the experiment is carried out. Many experiments are carried out in the laboratory, where control can be exerted on the extraneous variables, thereby eliminating them. 

Other experiments are carried out in a less controllable setting. The choice of setting used in research depends on the nature of the experiment being carried out.

• Multivariable

Experimental research may include multiple independent variables, e.g. time, skills, test scores, etc.

Why Use Experimental Research Design?  

Experimental research design can be majorly used in physical sciences, social sciences, education, and psychology. It is used to make predictions and draw conclusions on a subject matter. 

Some uses of experimental research design are highlighted below.

• Medicine: Experimental research is used to provide the proper treatment for diseases. In most cases, rather than directly using patients as the research subject, researchers take a sample of the bacteria from the patient’s body and are treated with the developed antibacterial

The changes observed during this period are recorded and evaluated to determine its effectiveness. This process can be carried out using different experimental research methods.

• Education: Asides from science subjects like Chemistry and Physics which involves teaching students how to perform experimental research, it can also be used in improving the standard of an academic institution. This includes testing students’ knowledge on different topics, coming up with better teaching methods, and the implementation of other programs that will aid student learning.
• Human Behavior: Social scientists are the ones who mostly use experimental research to test human behaviour. For example, consider 2 people randomly chosen to be the subject of the social interaction research where one person is placed in a room without human interaction for 1 year.

The other person is placed in a room with a few other people, enjoying human interaction. There will be a difference in their behaviour at the end of the experiment.

• UI/UX: During the product development phase, one of the major aims of the product team is to create a great user experience with the product. Therefore, before launching the final product design, potential are brought in to interact with the product.

For example, when finding it difficult to choose how to position a button or feature on the app interface, a random sample of product testers are allowed to test the 2 samples and how the button positioning influences the user interaction is recorded.

What are the Disadvantages of Experimental Research?  

• It is highly prone to human error due to its dependency on variable control which may not be properly implemented. These errors could eliminate the validity of the experiment and the research being conducted.
• Exerting control of extraneous variables may create unrealistic situations. Eliminating real-life variables will result in inaccurate conclusions. This may also result in researchers controlling the variables to suit his or her personal preferences.
• It is a time-consuming process. So much time is spent on testing dependent variables and waiting for the effect of the manipulation of dependent variables to manifest.
• It is expensive. 
• It is very risky and may have ethical complications that cannot be ignored. This is common in medical research, where failed trials may lead to a patient’s death or a deteriorating health condition.
• Experimental research results are not descriptive.
• Response bias can also be supplied by the subject of the conversation.
• Human responses in experimental research can be difficult to measure. 

What are the Data Collection Methods in Experimental Research?  

Data collection methods in experimental research are the different ways in which data can be collected for experimental research. They are used in different cases, depending on the type of research being carried out.

1. Observational Study

This type of study is carried out over a long period. It measures and observes the variables of interest without changing existing conditions.

When researching the effect of social interaction on human behavior, the subjects who are placed in 2 different environments are observed throughout the research. No matter the kind of absurd behavior that is exhibited by the subject during this period, its condition will not be changed.

This may be a very risky thing to do in medical cases because it may lead to death or worse medical conditions.

2. Simulations

This procedure uses mathematical, physical, or computer models to replicate a real-life process or situation. It is frequently used when the actual situation is too expensive, dangerous, or impractical to replicate in real life.

This method is commonly used in engineering and operational research for learning purposes and sometimes as a tool to estimate possible outcomes of real research. Some common situation software are Simulink, MATLAB, and Simul8.

Not all kinds of experimental research can be carried out using simulation as a data collection tool . It is very impractical for a lot of laboratory-based research that involves chemical processes.

A survey is a tool used to gather relevant data about the characteristics of a population and is one of the most common data collection tools. A survey consists of a group of questions prepared by the researcher, to be answered by the research subject.

Surveys can be shared with the respondents both physically and electronically. When collecting data through surveys, the kind of data collected depends on the respondent, and researchers have limited control over it.

Formplus is the best tool for collecting experimental data using survey s. It has relevant features that will aid the data collection process and can also be used in other aspects of experimental research.

Differences between Experimental and Non-Experimental Research 

1. In experimental research, the researcher can control and manipulate the environment of the research, including the predictor variable which can be changed. On the other hand, non-experimental research cannot be controlled or manipulated by the researcher at will.

This is because it takes place in a real-life setting, where extraneous variables cannot be eliminated. Therefore, it is more difficult to conclude non-experimental studies, even though they are much more flexible and allow for a greater range of study fields.

2. The relationship between cause and effect cannot be established in non-experimental research, while it can be established in experimental research. This may be because many extraneous variables also influence the changes in the research subject, making it difficult to point at a particular variable as the cause of a particular change

3. Independent variables are not introduced, withdrawn, or manipulated in non-experimental designs, but the same may not be said about experimental research.

Conclusion  

Experimental research designs are often considered to be the standard in research designs. This is partly due to the common misconception that research is equivalent to scientific experiments—a component of experimental research design.

In this research design, one or more subjects or dependent variables are randomly assigned to different treatments (i.e. independent variables manipulated by the researcher) and the results are observed to conclude. One of the uniqueness of experimental research is in its ability to control the effect of extraneous variables.

Experimental research is suitable for research whose goal is to examine cause-effect relationships, e.g. explanatory research. It can be conducted in the laboratory or field settings, depending on the aim of the research that is being carried out. 

Connect to Formplus, Get Started Now - It's Free!

• examples of experimental research
• experimental research methods
• types of experimental research
• busayo.longe

You may also like:

Response vs Explanatory Variables: Definition & Examples

In this article, we’ll be comparing the two types of variables, what they both mean and see some of their real-life applications in research

Simpson’s Paradox & How to Avoid it in Experimental Research

In this article, we are going to look at Simpson’s Paradox from its historical point and later, we’ll consider its effect in...

What is Experimenter Bias? Definition, Types & Mitigation

In this article, we will look into the concept of experimental bias and how it can be identified in your research

Experimental Vs Non-Experimental Research: 15 Key Differences

Differences between experimental and non experimental research on definitions, types, examples, data collection tools, uses, advantages etc.

Formplus - For Seamless Data Collection

Collect data the right way with a versatile data collection tool. try formplus and transform your work productivity today..

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

13.2: True experimental design

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 135156

• Matthew DeCarlo, Cory Cummings, & Kate Agnelli
• Open Social Work Education

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

Learning Objectives

Learners will be able to…

• Describe a true experimental design in social work research
• Understand the different types of true experimental designs
• Determine what kinds of research questions true experimental designs are suited for
• Discuss advantages and disadvantages of true experimental designs

True experimental design , often considered to be the “gold standard” in research designs, is thought of as one of the most rigorous of all research designs. In this design, one or more independent variables are manipulated by the researcher (as treatments), subjects are randomly assigned to different treatment levels (random assignment), and the results of the treatments on outcomes (dependent variables) are observed. The unique strength of experimental research is its  internal validity and its ability to establish ( causality ) through treatment manipulation, while controlling for the effects of extraneous variable. Sometimes the treatment level is no treatment, while other times it is simply a different treatment than that which we are trying to evaluate. For example, we might have a control group that is made up of people who will not receive any treatment for a particular condition. Or, a control group could consist of people who consent to treatment with DBT when we are testing the effectiveness of CBT.

As we discussed in the previous section, a true experiment has a  control group with participants randomly assigned , and an experimental group . This is the most basic element of a true experiment. The next decision a researcher must make is when they need to gather data during their experiment. Do they take a baseline measurement and then a measurement after treatment, or just a measurement after treatment, or do they handle measurement another way? Below, we’ll discuss the three main types of true experimental designs. There are sub-types of each of these designs, but here, we just want to get you started with some of the basics.

Using a true experiment in social work research is often pretty difficult, since as I mentioned earlier, true experiments can be quite resource intensive. True experiments work best with relatively large sample sizes, and random assignment, a key criterion for a true experimental design, is hard (and unethical) to execute in practice when you have people in dire need of an intervention. Nonetheless, some of the strongest evidence bases are built on true experiments.

For the purposes of this section, let’s bring back the example of CBT for the treatment of social anxiety. We have a group of 500 individuals who have agreed to participate in our study, and we have randomly assigned them to the control and experimental groups. The folks in the experimental group will receive CBT, while the folks in the control group will receive more unstructured, basic talk therapy. These designs, as we talked about above, are best suited for explanatory research questions.

Before we get started, take a look at the table below. When explaining experimental research designs, we often use diagrams with abbreviations to visually represent the experiment. Table 13.1 starts us off by laying out what each of the abbreviations mean.

Table 13.1 Experimental research design notations

Pretest and post-test control group design

In  pretest and post-test control group design , participants are given a  pretest of some kind to measure their baseline state before their participation in an intervention. In our social anxiety experiment, we would have participants in both the experimental and control groups complete some measure of social anxiety—most likely an established scale and/or a structured interview—before they start their treatment. As part of the experiment, we would have a defined time period during which the treatment would take place (let’s say 12 weeks, just for illustration). At the end of 12 weeks, we would give both groups the same measure as a  post-test . 

Figure 13.1 Pretest and post-test control group design

In the diagram, RA (random assignment group A) is the experimental group and RB is the control group. O 1  denotes the pre-test, X e  denotes the experimental intervention, and O 2  denotes the post-test. Let’s look at this diagram another way, using the example of CBT for social anxiety that we’ve been talking about.

Figure 13.2 Pretest and post-test control group design testing CBT an intervention

In a situation where the control group received treatment as usual instead of no intervention, the diagram would look this way, with X i  denoting treatment as usual (Figure 13.3).

Figure 13.3 Pretest and post-test control group design with treatment as usual instead of no treatment

Hopefully, these diagrams provide you a visualization of how this type of experiment establishes  time order , a key component of a causal relationship. Did the change occur after the intervention? Assuming there is a change in the scores between the pretest and post-test, we would be able to say that yes, the change did occur after the intervention. Causality can’t exist if the change happened before the intervention—this would mean that something else led to the change, not our intervention.

Post-test only control group design

Post-test only control group design involves only giving participants a post-test, just like it sounds (Figure 13.4).

Figure 13.4 Post-test only control group design

But why would you use this design instead of using a pretest/post-test design? One reason could be the testing effect that can happen when research participants take a pretest. In research, the  testing effect refers to “measurement error related to how a test is given; the conditions of the testing, including environmental conditions; and acclimation to the test itself” (Engel & Schutt, 2017, p. 444)\(^1\) (When we say “measurement error,” all we mean is the accuracy of the way we measure the dependent variable.) Figure 13.4 is a visualization of this type of experiment. The testing effect isn’t always bad in practice—our initial assessments might help clients identify or put into words feelings or experiences they are having when they haven’t been able to do that before. In research, however, we might want to control its effects to isolate a cleaner causal relationship between intervention and outcome.

Going back to our CBT for social anxiety example, we might be concerned that participants would learn about social anxiety symptoms by virtue of taking a pretest. They might then identify that they have those symptoms on the post-test, even though they are not new symptoms for them. That could make our intervention look less effective than it actually is.

However, without a baseline measurement establishing causality can be more difficult. If we don’t know someone’s state of mind before our intervention, how do we know our intervention did anything at all? Establishing  time order is thus a little more difficult. You must balance this consideration with the benefits of this type of design.

Solomon four group design

One way we can possibly measure how much the testing effect might change the results of the experiment is with the Solomon four group design. Basically, as part of this experiment, you have two control groups and two experimental groups. The first pair of groups receives both a pretest and a post-test. The other pair of groups receives only a post-test (Figure 13.5). This design helps address the problem of establishing time order in post-test only control group designs.

Figure 13.5 Solomon four-group design

For our CBT project, we would randomly assign people to four different groups instead of just two. Groups A and B would take our pretest measures and our post-test measures, and groups C and D would take only our post-test measures. We could then compare the results among these groups and see if they’re significantly different between the folks in A and B, and C and D. If they are, we may have identified some kind of testing effect, which enables us to put our results into full context. We don’t want to draw a strong causal conclusion about our intervention when we have major concerns about testing effects without trying to determine the extent of those effects.

Solomon four group designs are less common in social work research, primarily because of the logistics and resource needs involved. Nonetheless, this is an important experimental design to consider when we want to address major concerns about testing effects.

Key Takeaways

• True experimental design is best suited for explanatory research questions.
• True experiments require random assignment of participants to control and experimental groups.
• Pretest/post-test research design involves two points of measurement—one pre-intervention and one post-intervention.
• Post-test only research design involves only one point of measurement—post-intervention. It is a useful design to minimize the effect of testing effects on our results.
• Solomon four group research design involves both of the above types of designs, using 2 pairs of control and experimental groups. One group receives both a pretest and a post-test, while the other receives only a post-test. This can help uncover the influence of testing effects.
• Think about a true experiment you might conduct for your research project. Which design would be best for your research, and why?
• What challenges or limitations might make it unrealistic (or at least very complicated!) for you to carry your true experimental design in the real-world as a student researcher?
• What hypothesis(es) would you test using this true experiment?

Our websites may use cookies to personalize and enhance your experience. By continuing without changing your cookie settings, you agree to this collection. For more information, please see our University Websites Privacy Notice .

Neag School of Education

Educational Research Basics by Del Siegle

Experimental research.

The major feature that distinguishes experimental research from other types of research is that the researcher manipulates the independent variable.  There are a number of experimental group designs in experimental research. Some of these qualify as experimental research, others do not.

• In true experimental research , the researcher not only manipulates the independent variable, he or she also randomly assigned individuals to the various treatment categories (i.e., control and treatment).
• In quasi experimental research , the researcher does not randomly assign subjects to treatment and control groups. In other words, the treatment is not distributed among participants randomly. In some cases, a researcher may randomly assigns one whole group to treatment and one whole group to control. In this case, quasi-experimental research involves using intact groups in an experiment, rather than assigning individuals at random to research conditions. (some researchers define this latter situation differently. For our course, we will allow this definition).
• In causal comparative ( ex post facto ) research, the groups are already formed. It does not meet the standards of an experiment because the independent variable in not manipulated.

The statistics by themselves have no meaning. They only take on meaning within the design of your study. If we just examine stats, bread can be deadly . The term validity is used three ways in research…

• I n the sampling unit, we learn about external validity (generalizability).
• I n the survey unit, we learn about instrument validity .
• In this unit, we learn about internal validity and external validity . Internal validity means that the differences that we were found between groups on the dependent variable in an experiment were directly related to what the researcher did to the independent variable, and not due to some other unintended variable (confounding variable). Simply stated, the question addressed by internal validity is “Was the study done well?” Once the researcher is satisfied that the study was done well and the independent variable caused the dependent variable (internal validity), then the research examines external validity (under what conditions [ecological] and with whom [population] can these results be replicated [Will I get the same results with a different group of people or under different circumstances?]). If a study is not internally valid, then considering external validity is a moot point (If the independent did not cause the dependent, then there is no point in applying the results [generalizing the results] to other situations.). Interestingly, as one tightens a study to control for treats to internal validity, one decreases the generalizability of the study (to whom and under what conditions one can generalize the results).

There are several common threats to internal validity in experimental research. They are described in our text.  I have review each below (this material is also included in the  PowerPoint Presentation on Experimental Research for this unit):

• Subject Characteristics (Selection Bias/Differential Selection) — The groups may have been different from the start. If you were testing instructional strategies to improve reading and one group enjoyed reading more than the other group, they may improve more in their reading because they enjoy it, rather than the instructional strategy you used.
• Loss of Subjects ( Mortality ) — All of the high or low scoring subject may have dropped out or were missing from one of the groups. If we collected posttest data on a day when the honor society was on field trip at the treatment school, the mean for the treatment group would probably be much lower than it really should have been.
• Location — Perhaps one group was at a disadvantage because of their location.  The city may have been demolishing a building next to one of the schools in our study and there are constant distractions which interferes with our treatment.
• Instrumentation Instrument Decay — The testing instruments may not be scores similarly. Perhaps the person grading the posttest is fatigued and pays less attention to the last set of papers reviewed. It may be that those papers are from one of our groups and will received different scores than the earlier group’s papers
• Data Collector Characteristics — The subjects of one group may react differently to the data collector than the other group. A male interviewing males and females about their attitudes toward a type of math instruction may not receive the same responses from females as a female interviewing females would.
• Data Collector Bias — The person collecting data my favors one group, or some characteristic some subject possess, over another. A principal who favors strict classroom management may rate students’ attention under different teaching conditions with a bias toward one of the teaching conditions.
• Testing — The act of taking a pretest or posttest may influence the results of the experiment. Suppose we were conducting a unit to increase student sensitivity to prejudice. As a pretest we have the control and treatment groups watch Shindler’s List and write a reaction essay. The pretest may have actually increased both groups’ sensitivity and we find that our treatment groups didn’t score any higher on a posttest given later than the control group did. If we hadn’t given the pretest, we might have seen differences in the groups at the end of the study.
• History — Something may happen at one site during our study that influences the results. Perhaps a classmate dies in a car accident at the control site for a study teaching children bike safety. The control group may actually demonstrate more concern about bike safety than the treatment group.
• Maturation –There may be natural changes in the subjects that can account for the changes found in a study. A critical thinking unit may appear more effective if it taught during a time when children are developing abstract reasoning.
• Hawthorne Effect — The subjects may respond differently just because they are being studied. The name comes from a classic study in which researchers were studying the effect of lighting on worker productivity. As the intensity of the factor lights increased, so did the work productivity. One researcher suggested that they reverse the treatment and lower the lights. The productivity of the workers continued to increase. It appears that being observed by the researchers was increasing productivity, not the intensity of the lights.
• John Henry Effect — One group may view that it is competition with the other group and may work harder than than they would under normal circumstances. This generally is applied to the control group “taking on” the treatment group. The terms refers to the classic story of John Henry laying railroad track.
• Resentful Demoralization of the Control Group — The control group may become discouraged because it is not receiving the special attention that is given to the treatment group. They may perform lower than usual because of this.
• Regression ( Statistical Regression) — A class that scores particularly low can be expected to score slightly higher just by chance. Likewise, a class that scores particularly high, will have a tendency to score slightly lower by chance. The change in these scores may have nothing to do with the treatment.
• Implementation –The treatment may not be implemented as intended. A study where teachers are asked to use student modeling techniques may not show positive results, not because modeling techniques don’t work, but because the teacher didn’t implement them or didn’t implement them as they were designed.
• Compensatory Equalization of Treatmen t — Someone may feel sorry for the control group because they are not receiving much attention and give them special treatment. For example, a researcher could be studying the effect of laptop computers on students’ attitudes toward math. The teacher feels sorry for the class that doesn’t have computers and sponsors a popcorn party during math class. The control group begins to develop a more positive attitude about mathematics.
• Experimental Treatment Diffusion — Sometimes the control group actually implements the treatment. If two different techniques are being tested in two different third grades in the same building, the teachers may share what they are doing. Unconsciously, the control may use of the techniques she or he learned from the treatment teacher.

When planning a study, it is important to consider the threats to interval validity as we finalize the study design. After we complete our study, we should reconsider each of the threats to internal validity as we review our data and draw conclusions.

Del Siegle, Ph.D. Neag School of Education – University of Connecticut [email protected] www.delsiegle.com

• Survey Software The world’s leading omnichannel survey software
• Online Survey Tools Create sophisticated surveys with ease.
• Mobile Offline Conduct efficient field surveys.
• Text Analysis
• Close The Loop
• Automated Translations
• NPS Dashboard
• CATI Manage high volume phone surveys efficiently
• Cloud/On-premise Dialer TCPA compliant Cloud & on-premise dialer
• IVR Survey Software Boost productivity with automated call workflows.
• Analytics Analyze survey data with visual dashboards
• Panel Manager Nurture a loyal community of respondents.
• Survey Portal Best-in-class user friendly survey portal.
• Voxco Audience Conduct targeted sample research in hours.

Find the best survey software for you! (Along with a checklist to compare platforms)

Get Buyer’s Guide

• 40+ question types
• Drag-and-drop interface
• Skip logic and branching
• Multi-lingual survey
• Text piping
• Question library
• CSS customization
• White-label surveys
• Customizable ‘Thank You’ page
• Customizable survey theme
• Reminder send-outs
• Survey rewards
• Social media
• Website surveys
• Correlation analysis
• Cross-tabulation analysis
• Trend analysis
• Real-time dashboard
• Customizable report
• Email address validation
• Recaptcha validation
• SSL security

Take a peek at our powerful survey features to design surveys that scale discoveries.

Download feature sheet.

• Hospitality
• Financial Services
• Academic Research
• Customer Experience
• Employee Experience
• Product Experience
• Market Research
• Social Research
• Data Analysis

Explore Voxco 

Need to map Voxco’s features & offerings? We can help!

Watch a Demo 

Download Brochures 

Get a Quote

• NPS Calculator
• CES Calculator
• A/B Testing Calculator
• Margin of Error Calculator
• Sample Size Calculator
• CX Strategy & Management Hub
• Market Research Hub
• Patient Experience Hub
• Employee Experience Hub
• Market Research Guide
• Customer Experience Guide
• The Voxco Guide to Customer Experience
• NPS Knowledge Hub
• Survey Research Guides
• Survey Template Library
• Webinars and Events
• Feature Sheets
• Try a sample survey
• Professional services

Find the best customer experience platform

Uncover customer pain points, analyze feedback and run successful CX programs with the best CX platform for your team.

Get the Guide Now

We’ve been avid users of the Voxco platform now for over 20 years. It gives us the flexibility to routinely enhance our survey toolkit and provides our clients with a more robust dataset and story to tell their clients.

VP Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, The Logit Group

• Client Stories
• Voxco Reviews
• Why Voxco Research?
• Careers at Voxco
• Vulnerabilities and Ethical Hacking

Explore Regional Offices

• Cloud/On-premise Dialer TCPA compliant Cloud on-premise dialer
• Predictive Analytics
• Customer 360
• Customer Loyalty
• Fraud & Risk Management
• AI/ML Enablement Services
• Credit Underwriting

Get Buyer’s Guide

• 100+ question types
• SMS surveys
• Banking & Financial Services
• Retail Solution
• Risk Management
• Customer Lifecycle Solutions
• Net Promoter Score
• Customer Behaviour Analytics
• Customer Segmentation
• Data Unification

Explore Voxco 

Watch a Demo 

Download Brochures 

• CX Strategy & Management Hub
• Blogs & White papers
• Case Studies

VP Innovation & Strategic Partnerships, The Logit Group

• Why Voxco Intelligence?
• Our clients
• Client stories
• Featuresheets

True Experimental Design - Types & How to Conduct

SHARE THE ARTICLE ON

True-experimental research is often considered the most accurate research. A researcher has complete control over the process which helps reduce any error in the result. This also increases the confidence level of the research outcome. 

In this blog, we will explore in detail what it is, its various types, and how to conduct it in 7 steps.

What is a true experimental design?

True experimental design is a statistical approach to establishing a cause-and-effect relationship between variables. This research method is the most accurate forms which provides substantial backing to support the existence of relationships.

There are three elements in this study that you need to fulfill in order to perform this type of research:

1. The existence of a control group:  The sample of participants is subdivided into 2 groups – one that is subjected to the experiment and so, undergoes changes and the other that does not. 

2. The presence of an independent variable:  Independent variables that influence the working of other variables must be there for the researcher to control and observe changes.

3.   Random assignment:  Participants must be randomly distributed within the groups.

Read how Voxco helped Brain Research improve research productivity by 60%.

“The platform extends our ability to productively manage our busy intercept survey projects, and the confidence to support major new clients.”

Laura Ruvalcaba, President & CEO, Brain Research

An example of true experimental design

A study to observe the effects of physical exercise on productivity levels can be conducted using a true experimental design.

Suppose a group of 300 people volunteer for a study involving office workers in their 20s. These 300 participants are randomly distributed into 3 groups. 

• 1st Group:  A control group that does not participate in exercising and has to carry on with their everyday schedule. 
• 2nd Group:  Asked to indulge in home workouts for 30-45 minutes every day for one month. 
• 3rd Group:  Has to work out 2 hours every day for a month. Both groups have to take one rest day per week.

In this research, the  level of physical exercise acts  as an  independent variable  while the  performance at the workplace  is a  dependent variable  that varies with the change in exercise levels.

Before initiating the true experimental research, each participant’s current performance at the workplace is evaluated and documented. As the study goes on, a progress report is generated for each of the 300 participants to monitor how their physical activity has impacted their workplace functioning.

At the end of two weeks, participants from the 2nd and 3rd groups that are able to endure their current level of workout, are asked to increase their daily exercise time by half an hour. While those that aren’t able to endure, are suggested to either continue with the same timing or fix the timing to a level that is half an hour lower. 

So, in this true experimental design a participant who at the end of two weeks is not able to put up with 2 hours of workout, will now workout for 1 hour and 30 minutes for the remaining tenure of two weeks while someone who can endure the 2 hours, will now push themselves towards 2 hours and 30 minutes.

In this manner, the researcher notes the timings of each member from the two active groups for the first two weeks and the remaining two weeks after the change in timings and also monitors their corresponding performance levels at work.

The above example can be categorized as true experiment research since now we have:

• Control group:  Group 1 carries on with their schedule without being conditioned to exercise.
• Independent variable : The duration of exercise each day.
• Random assignment:  300 participants are randomly distributed into 3 groups and as such, there are no criteria for the assignment.

What is the purpose of conducting true experimental research?

Both the primary usage and purpose of a true experimental design lie in establishing meaningful relationships based on quantitative surveillance. 

True experiments focus on connecting the dots between two or more variables by displaying how the change in one variable brings about a change in another variable. It can be as small a change as having enough sleep improves retention or as large scale as geographical differences affect consumer behavior. 

The main idea is to ensure the presence of different sets of variables to study with some shared commonality.

Beyond this, the research is used when the three criteria of random distribution, a control group, and an independent variable to be manipulated by the researcher, are met.

Voxco’s omnichannel survey software helps you collect insights from multiple channels using a single platform

See the true power of using an integrated survey platform to conduct online, offline, and phone surveys along with a built-in analytical suite.

What are the advantages of true experimental design?

Let’s take a look at some advantages that make this research design conclusive and accurate research.

Concrete method of research:

The statistical nature of the experimental design makes it highly credible and accurate. The data collected from the research is subjected to statistical tools. 

This makes the results easy to understand, objective and actionable. This makes it a better alternative to observation-based studies that are subjective and difficult to make inferences from.

Easy to understand and replicate:

Since the research provides hard figures and a precise representation of the entire process, the results presented become easily comprehensible for any stakeholder. 

Further, it becomes easier for future researchers conducting studies around the same subject to get a grasp of prior takes on the same and replicate its results to supplement their own research.

Establishes comparison:

The presence of a control group in true experimental research allows researchers to compare and contrast. The degree to which a methodology is applied to a group can be studied with respect to the end result as a frame of reference.

Conclusive:

The research combines observational and statistical analysis to generate informed conclusions. This directs the flow of follow-up actions in a definite direction, thus, making the research process fruitful.

What are the disadvantages of true experimental design?

We should also learn about the disadvantages it can pose in research to help you determine when and how you should use this type of research. 

This research design is costly. It takes a lot of investment in recruiting and managing a large number of participants which is necessary for the sample to be representative. 

The high resource investment makes it highly important for the researcher to plan each aspect of the process to its minute details.

Too idealistic:

The research takes place in a completely controlled environment. Such a scenario is not representative of real-world situations and so the results may not be authentic. 

T his is one of the main limitation why open-field research is preferred over lab research, wherein the researcher can influence the study.

Time-consuming:

Setting up and conducting a true experiment is highly time-consuming. This is because of the processes like recruiting a large enough sample, gathering respondent data, random distribution into groups, monitoring the process over a span of time, tracking changes, and making adjustments. 

The amount of processes, although essential to the entire model, is not a feasible option to go for when the results are required in the near future.

Now that we’ve learned about the advantages and disadvantages let’s look at its types.

Get started with your Experimental Research

Send your survey to the right people to receive quality responses.

What are the 3 types of true experimental design?

The research design is categorized into three types based on the way you should conduct the research. Each type has its own procedure and guidelines, which you should be aware of to achieve reliable data.  

The three types are: 

1) Post-test-only control group design. 

2) Pre-test post-test control group design.

3) Solomon four group control design.

Let’s see how these three types differ. 

1) Post-test-only control group design:

In this type of true experimental research, the control as well as the experimental group that has been formed using random allocation, are not tested before applying the experimental methodology. This is so as to avoid affecting the quality of the study.

The participants are always on the lookout to identify the purpose and criteria for assessment. Pre-test conveys to them the basis on which they are being judged which can allow them to modify their end responses, compromising the quality of the entire research process. 

However, this can hinder your ability to establish a comparison between the pre-experiment and post-experiment conditions which weighs in on the changes that have taken place over the course of the research.

2) Pre-test post-test control group design:

It is a modification of the post-test control group design with an additional test carried out before the implementation of the experimental methodology. 

This two-way testing method can help in noticing significant changes brought in the research groups as a result of the experimental intervention. There is no guarantee that the results present the true picture as post-testing can be affected due to the exposure of the respondents to the pre-test.

3) Solomon four group control design:

This type of true experimental design involves the random distribution of sample members into 4 groups. These groups consist of 2 control groups that are not subjected to the experiments and changes and 2 experimental groups that the experimental methodology applies to.

Out of these 4 groups, one control and one experimental group is used for pre-testing while all four groups are subjected to post-tests.

This way researcher gets to establish pre-test post-test contrast while there remains another set of respondents that have not been exposed to pre-tests and so, provide genuine post-test responses, thus, accounting for testing effects.

Explore all the survey question types possible on Voxco.

What is the difference between pre-experimental & true experimental research design.

Pre-experimental research helps determine the researchers’ intervention on a group of people. It is a step where you design the proper experiment to address a research question. 

True experiment defines that you are conducting the research. It helps establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the variables. 

We’ll discuss the differences between the two based on four categories, which are: 

• Observatory Vs. Statistical. 
• Absence Vs. Presence of control groups. 
• Non-randomization Vs. Randomization. 
• Feasibility test Vs. Conclusive test.

Let’s find the differences to better understand the two experiments. 

Observatory vs Statistical:

Pre-experimental research  is an observation-based model i.e. it is highly subjective and qualitative in nature. 

The true experimental design  offers an accurate analysis of the data collected using statistical data analysis tools.

Absence vs Presence of control groups:

Pre-experimental research  designs do not usually employ a control group which makes it difficult to establish contrast. 

While all three types of  true experiments  employ control groups.

Non-randomization vs Randomization:

Pre-experimental research  doesn’t use randomization in certain cases whereas 

True experimental research  always adheres to a randomization approach to group distribution.

Feasibility test vs Conclusive test:

Pre-tests  are used as a feasibility mechanism to see if the methodology being applied is actually suitable for the research purpose and whether it will have an impact or not.

While  true experiments  are conclusive in nature.

Guide to Descriptive Research

Learn the key steps of conducting descriptive research to uncover breakthrough insights into your target market.

7 Steps to conduct a true experimental research

It’s important to understand the steps/guidelines of research in order to maintain research integrity and gather valid and reliable data.  

We have explained 7 steps to conducting this research in detail. The TL;DR version of it is: 

1) Identify the research objective.

2) Identify independent and dependent variables.

3) Define and group the population.

4) Conduct Pre-tests.

5) Conduct the research.

6) Conduct post-tests.

7) Analyse the collected data. 

Now let’s explore these seven steps in true experimental design. 

1) Identify the research objective:

Identify the variables which you need to analyze for a cause-and-effect relationship. Deliberate which particular relationship study will help you make effective decisions and frame this research objective in one of the following manners:

• Determination of the impact of X on Y
• Studying how the usage/application of X causes Y

2) Identify independent and dependent variables:

Establish clarity as to what would be your controlling/independent variable and what variable would change and would be observed by the researcher. In the above samples, for research purposes, X is an independent variable & Y is a dependent variable.

3) Define and group the population:

Define the targeted audience for the true experimental design. It is out of this target audience that a sample needs to be selected for accurate research to be carried out. It is imperative that the target population gets defined in as much detail as possible.

To narrow the field of view, a random selection of individuals from the population is carried out. These are the selected respondents that help the researcher in answering their research questions. Post their selection, this sample of individuals gets randomly subdivided into control and experimental groups.

4) Conduct Pre-tests:

Before commencing with the actual study, pre-tests are to be carried out wherever necessary. These pre-tests take an assessment of the condition of the respondent so that an effective comparison between the pre and post-tests reveals the change brought about by the research.

5) Conduct the research:

Implement your experimental procedure with the experimental group created in the previous step in the true experimental design. Provide the necessary instructions and solve any doubts or queries that the participants might have. Monitor their practices and track their progress. Ensure that the intervention is being properly complied with, otherwise, the results can be tainted.

6) Conduct post-tests:

Gauge the impact that the intervention has had on the experimental group and compare it with the pre-tests. This is particularly important since the pre-test serves as a starting point from where all the changes that have been measured in the post-test, are the effect of the experimental intervention. 

So for example: If the pre-test in the above example shows that a particular customer service employee was able to solve 10 customer problems in two hours and the post-test conducted after a month of 2-hour workouts every day shows a boost of 5 additional customer problems being solved within those 2 hours, the additional 5 customer service calls that the employee makes is the result of the additional productivity gained by the employee as a result of putting in the requisite time

7) Analyse the collected data:

Use appropriate statistical tools to derive inferences from the data observed and collected. Correlational data analysis tools and tests of significance are highly effective relationship-based studies and so are highly applicable for true experimental research.

This step also includes differentiating between the pre and the post-tests for scoping in on the impact that the independent variable has had on the dependent variable. A contrast between the control group and the experimental groups sheds light on the change brought about within the span of the experiment and how much change is brought intentionally and is not caused by chance.

Voxco is trusted by 500+ global brands and top 50 MR firms to gather insights and take actions.

See how Voxco can help enhance your research efficiency.

Wrapping up;

This sums up everything about true experimental design. While it’s often considered complex and expensive, it is also one of the most accurate research.

The true experiment uses statistical analysis which ensures that your data is reliable and has a high confidence level. Curious to learn how you can use  survey software  to conduct your experimental research,  book a meeting with us .

• What is true experimental research design?

True experimental research design helps investigate the cause-and-effect relationships between the variables under study. The research method requires manipulating an independent variable, random assignment of participants to different groups, and measuring the dependent variable. 

• How does true experiment research differ from other research designs?

The true experiment uses random selection/assignment of participants in the group to minimize preexisting differences between groups. It allows researchers to make causal inferences about the influence of independent variables. This is the factor that makes it different from other research designs like correlational research. 

• What are the key components of true experimental research designs?

The following are the important factors of a true experimental design: 

• Manipulation of the independent variable. 
• Control groups. 
• Experiment groups. 
• Dependent variable. 
• Random assignment. 
• What are some advantages of true experiment design?

It enables you to establish causal relationships between variables and offers control over the confounding variables. Moreover, you can generalize the research findings to the target population. 

• What ethical considerations are important in a true experimental research design?

When conducting this research method, you must obtain informed consent from the participants. It’s important to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of the participants to minimize any risk or harm. 

Explore Voxco Survey Software

+ Omnichannel Survey Software 

+ Online Survey Software 

+ CATI Survey Software 

+ IVR Survey Software 

+ Market Research Tool

+ Customer Experience Tool 

+ Product Experience Software 

+ Enterprise Survey Software 

Objectives of social research

Objectives of Social Research: A Path to Societal Understanding SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents What is social research? Social research is an approach

Top 10 Alchemer Survey Alternative

Top 10 Alchemer Survey Alternative SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents What is Alchemer? Alchemer (formerly known as Survey Gizmo) is a customer feedback

All About Bad Survey Questions

Bad Survey Questions: Introduction, Feature, and Questions SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents The progress of your survey begins with the sort of questions

How to deliver a personalized healthcare member experience?

How to deliver a personalized healthcare member experience? Try a free Voxco Online sample survey! Unlock your Sample Survey SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Share on

Survey ranking questions

Survey ranking questions SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on linkedinTable of Contents What are ranking questions? Pretty obvious from the name

B2B Customer Experience: How can you improve it?

B2B Customer Experience: How can you improve it? SHARE THE ARTICLE ON Table of Contents A better customer experience is a competitive advantage in today’s

We use cookies in our website to give you the best browsing experience and to tailor advertising. By continuing to use our website, you give us consent to the use of cookies. Read More

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer
• QuestionPro

• Solutions Industries Gaming Automotive Sports and events Education Government Travel & Hospitality Financial Services Healthcare Cannabis Technology Use Case NPS+ Communities Audience Contactless surveys Mobile LivePolls Member Experience GDPR Positive People Science 360 Feedback Surveys
• Resources Blog eBooks Survey Templates Case Studies Training Help center

Home Market Research

Experimental Research: What it is + Types of designs

Any research conducted under scientifically acceptable conditions uses experimental methods. The success of experimental studies hinges on researchers confirming the change of a variable is based solely on the manipulation of the constant variable. The research should establish a notable cause and effect.

What is Experimental Research?

Experimental research is a study conducted with a scientific approach using two sets of variables. The first set acts as a constant, which you use to measure the differences of the second set. Quantitative research methods , for example, are experimental.

If you don’t have enough data to support your decisions, you must first determine the facts. This research gathers the data necessary to help you make better decisions.

You can conduct experimental research in the following situations:

• Time is a vital factor in establishing a relationship between cause and effect.
• Invariable behavior between cause and effect.
• You wish to understand the importance of cause and effect.

Experimental Research Design Types

The classic experimental design definition is: “The methods used to collect data in experimental studies.”

There are three primary types of experimental design:

• Pre-experimental research design
• True experimental research design
• Quasi-experimental research design

The way you classify research subjects based on conditions or groups determines the type of research design  you should use.

0 1. Pre-Experimental Design

A group, or various groups, are kept under observation after implementing cause and effect factors. You’ll conduct this research to understand whether further investigation is necessary for these particular groups.

You can break down pre-experimental research further into three types:

• One-shot Case Study Research Design
• One-group Pretest-posttest Research Design
• Static-group Comparison

0 2. True Experimental Design

It relies on statistical analysis to prove or disprove a hypothesis, making it the most accurate form of research. Of the types of experimental design, only true design can establish a cause-effect relationship within a group. In a true experiment, three factors need to be satisfied:

• There is a Control Group, which won’t be subject to changes, and an Experimental Group, which will experience the changed variables.
• A variable that can be manipulated by the researcher
• Random distribution

This experimental research method commonly occurs in the physical sciences.

0 3. Quasi-Experimental Design

The word “Quasi” indicates similarity. A quasi-experimental design is similar to an experimental one, but it is not the same. The difference between the two is the assignment of a control group. In this research, an independent variable is manipulated, but the participants of a group are not randomly assigned. Quasi-research is used in field settings where random assignment is either irrelevant or not required.

Importance of Experimental Design

Experimental research is a powerful tool for understanding cause-and-effect relationships. It allows us to manipulate variables and observe the effects, which is crucial for understanding how different factors influence the outcome of a study.

But the importance of experimental research goes beyond that. It’s a critical method for many scientific and academic studies. It allows us to test theories, develop new products, and make groundbreaking discoveries.

For example, this research is essential for developing new drugs and medical treatments. Researchers can understand how a new drug works by manipulating dosage and administration variables and identifying potential side effects.

Similarly, experimental research is used in the field of psychology to test theories and understand human behavior. By manipulating variables such as stimuli, researchers can gain insights into how the brain works and identify new treatment options for mental health disorders.

It is also widely used in the field of education. It allows educators to test new teaching methods and identify what works best. By manipulating variables such as class size, teaching style, and curriculum, researchers can understand how students learn and identify new ways to improve educational outcomes.

In addition, experimental research is a powerful tool for businesses and organizations. By manipulating variables such as marketing strategies, product design, and customer service, companies can understand what works best and identify new opportunities for growth.

Advantages of Experimental Research

When talking about this research, we can think of human life. Babies do their own rudimentary experiments (such as putting objects in their mouths) to learn about the world around them, while older children and teens do experiments at school to learn more about science.

Ancient scientists used this research to prove that their hypotheses were correct. For example, Galileo Galilei and Antoine Lavoisier conducted various experiments to discover key concepts in physics and chemistry. The same is true of modern experts, who use this scientific method to see if new drugs are effective, discover treatments for diseases, and create new electronic devices (among others).

It’s vital to test new ideas or theories. Why put time, effort, and funding into something that may not work?

This research allows you to test your idea in a controlled environment before marketing. It also provides the best method to test your theory thanks to the following advantages:

• Researchers have a stronger hold over variables to obtain desired results.
• The subject or industry does not impact the effectiveness of experimental research. Any industry can implement it for research purposes.
• The results are specific.
• After analyzing the results, you can apply your findings to similar ideas or situations.
• You can identify the cause and effect of a hypothesis. Researchers can further analyze this relationship to determine more in-depth ideas.
• Experimental research makes an ideal starting point. The data you collect is a foundation for building more ideas and conducting more action research .

Whether you want to know how the public will react to a new product or if a certain food increases the chance of disease, experimental research is the best place to start. Begin your research by finding subjects using  QuestionPro Audience  and other tools today.

LEARN MORE         FREE TRIAL

MORE LIKE THIS

How Can I Help You? — Tuesday CX Thoughts

Jun 5, 2024

Why Multilingual 360 Feedback Surveys Provide Better Insights

Jun 3, 2024

Raked Weighting: A Key Tool for Accurate Survey Results

May 31, 2024

Top 8 Data Trends to Understand the Future of Data

May 30, 2024

Other categories

• Academic Research
• Artificial Intelligence
• Assessments
• Brand Awareness
• Case Studies
• Communities
• Consumer Insights
• Customer effort score
• Customer Engagement
• Customer Experience
• Customer Loyalty
• Customer Research
• Customer Satisfaction
• Employee Benefits
• Employee Engagement
• Employee Retention
• Friday Five
• General Data Protection Regulation
• Insights Hub
• Life@QuestionPro
• Market Research
• Mobile diaries
• Mobile Surveys
• New Features
• Online Communities
• Question Types
• Questionnaire
• QuestionPro Products
• Release Notes
• Research Tools and Apps
• Revenue at Risk
• Survey Templates
• Training Tips
• Uncategorized
• Video Learning Series
• What’s Coming Up
• Workforce Intelligence

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

Ideas for Psychology Experiments

Inspiration for psychology experiments is all around if you know where to look

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Psychology experiments can run the gamut from simple to complex. Students are often expected to design—and sometimes perform—their own experiments, but finding great experiment ideas can be a little challenging. Fortunately, inspiration is all around if you know where to look—from your textbooks to the questions that you have about your own life.

Always discuss your idea with your instructor before beginning your experiment—particularly if your research involves human participants. (Note: You'll probably need to submit a proposal and get approval from your school's institutional review board.)

At a Glance

If you are looking for an idea for psychology experiments, start your search early and make sure you have the time you need. Doing background research, choosing an experimental design, and actually performing your experiment can be quite the process. Keep reading to find some great psychology experiment ideas that can serve as inspiration. You can then find ways to adapt these ideas for your own assignments.

15 Ideas for Psychology Experiments

Most of these experiments can be performed easily at home or at school. That said, you will need to find out if you have to get approval from your teacher or from an institutional review board before getting started.

The following are some questions you could attempt to answer as part of a psychological experiment:

• Are people really able to "feel like someone is watching" them ? Have some participants sit alone in a room and have them note when they feel as if they are being watched. Then, see how those results line up to your own record of when participants were actually being observed.
• Can certain colors improve learning ? You may have heard teachers or students claim that printing text on green paper helps students read better, or that yellow paper helps students perform better on math exams. Design an experiment to see whether using a specific color of paper helps improve students' scores on math exams.
• Can color cause physiological reactions ? Perform an experiment to determine whether certain colors cause a participant's blood pressure to rise or fall.
• Can different types of music lead to different physiological responses ? Measure the heart rates of participants in response to various types of music to see if there is a difference.
• Can smelling one thing while tasting another impact a person's ability to detect what the food really is ? Have participants engage in a blind taste test where the smell and the food they eat are mismatched. Ask the participants to identify the food they are trying and note how accurate their guesses are.
• Could a person's taste in music offer hints about their personality ? Previous research has suggested that people who prefer certain styles of music tend to exhibit similar  personality traits. Administer a personality assessment and survey participants about their musical preferences and examine your results.
• Do action films cause people to eat more popcorn and candy during a movie ? Have one group of participants watch an action movie, and another group watch a slow-paced drama. Compare how much popcorn is consumed by each group.
• Do colors really impact moods ? Investigate to see if the  color blue makes people feel calm, or if the color red leaves them feeling agitated.
• Do creative people see  optical illusions  differently than more analytical people ? Have participants complete an assessment to measure their level of creative thinking. Then ask participants to look at optical illusions and note what they perceive.
• Do people rate individuals with perfectly symmetrical faces as more beautiful than those with asymmetrical faces ? Create sample cards with both symmetrical and asymmetrical faces and ask participants to rate the attractiveness of each picture.
• Do people who use social media exhibit signs of addiction ? Have participants complete an assessment of their social media habits, then have them complete an addiction questionnaire.
• Does eating breakfast help students do better in school ? According to some, eating breakfast can have a beneficial influence on school performance. For your experiment, you could compare the test scores of students who ate breakfast to those who did not.
• Does sex influence short-term memory ? You could arrange an experiment that tests whether men or women are better at remembering specific types of information.
• How likely are people to conform in groups ? Try this experiment to see what percentage of people are likely to conform . Enlist confederates to give the wrong response to a math problem and then see if the participants defy or conform to the rest of the group.
• How much information can people store in short-term memory ? Have participants study a word list and then test their memory. Try different versions of the experiment to see which memorization strategies, like chunking or mnemonics, are most effective.

Once you have an idea, the next step is to learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

Psychology Experiments on Your Interests

If none of the ideas in the list above grabbed your attention, there are other ways to find inspiration for your psychology experiments.

How do you come up with good psychology experiments? One of the most effective approaches is to look at the various problems, situations, and questions that you are facing in your own life.

You can also think about the things that interest you. Start by considering the topics you've studied in class thus far that have really piqued your interest. Then, whittle the list down to two or three major areas within psychology that seem to interest you the most.

From there, make a list of questions you have related to the topic. Any of these questions could potentially serve as an experiment idea.

Use Textbooks for Inspiration for Psychology Experiments

Your psychology textbooks are another excellent source you can turn to for experiment ideas. Choose the chapters or sections that you find particularly interesting—perhaps it's a chapter on  social psychology  or a section on child development.

Start by browsing the experiments discussed in your book. Then think of how you could devise an experiment related to some of the questions your text asks. The reference section at the back of your textbook can also serve as a great source for additional reference material.

Discuss Psychology Experiments with Other Students

It can be helpful to brainstorm with your classmates to gather outside ideas and perspectives. Get together with a group of students and make a list of interesting ideas, subjects, or questions you have.

The information from your brainstorming session can serve as a basis for your experiment topic. It's also a great way to get feedback on your own ideas and to determine if they are worth exploring in greater depth.

Study Classic Psychology Experiments

Taking a closer look at a classic psychology experiment can be an excellent way to trigger some unique and thoughtful ideas of your own. To start, you could try conducting your own version of a famous experiment or even updating a classic experiment to assess a slightly different question.

Famous Psychology Experiments

Examples of famous psychology experiments that might be a source of further questions you'd like to explore include:

• Marshmallow test experiments
• Little Albert experiment
• Hawthorne effect experiments
• Bystander effect experiments
• Robbers Cave experiments
• Halo effect experiments
• Piano stairs experiment
• Cognitive dissonance experiments
• False memory experiments

You might not be able to replicate an experiment exactly (lots of classic psychology experiments have ethical issues that would preclude conducting them today), but you can use well-known studies as a basis for inspiration.

Review the Literature on Psychology Experiments

If you have a general idea about what topic you'd like to experiment, you might want to spend a little time doing a brief literature review before you start designing. In other words, do your homework before you invest too much time on an idea.

Visit your university library and find some of the best books and articles that cover the particular topic you are interested in. What research has already been done in this area? Are there any major questions that still need to be answered? What were the findings of previous psychology experiments?

Tackling this step early will make the later process of writing the introduction  to your  lab report  or research paper much easier.

Ask Your Instructor About Ideas for Psychology Experiments

If you have made a good effort to come up with an idea on your own but you're still feeling stumped, it might help to talk to your instructor. Ask for pointers on finding a good experiment topic for the specific assignment. You can also ask them to suggest some other ways you could generate ideas or inspiration.

While it can feel intimidating to ask for help, your instructor should be more than happy to provide some guidance. Plus, they might offer insights that you wouldn't have gathered on your own. Your instructor probably has lots of ideas for psychology experiments that would be worth exploring.

If you need to design or conduct psychology experiments, there are plenty of great ideas (both old and new) for you to explore. Consider an idea from the list above or turn some of your own questions about the human mind and behavior into an experiment.

Before you dive in, make sure that you are observing the guidelines provided by your instructor and always obtain the appropriate permission before conducting any research with human or animal subjects.

Frequently Asked Questions

Finding a topic for a research paper is much like finding an idea for an experiment. Start by considering your own interests, or browse though your textbooks for inspiration. You might also consider looking at online news stories or journal articles as a source of inspiration.

Three of the most classic social psychology experiments are:

• The Asch Conformity Experiment : This experiment involved seeing if people would conform to group pressure when rating the length of a line.
• The Milgram Obedience Experiment : This experiment involved ordering participants to deliver what they thought was a painful shock to another person.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment : This experiment involved students replicating a prison environment to see how it would affect participant behavior. 

Jakovljević T, Janković MM, Savić AM, et al. The effect of colour on reading performance in children, measured by a sensor hub: From the perspective of gender .  PLoS One . 2021;16(6):e0252622. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0252622

Greenberg DM, et al. Musical preferences are linked to cognitive styles . PLoS One. 2015;10(7). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131151

Kurt S, Osueke KK. The effects of color on the moods of college students . Sage. 2014;4(1). doi:10.1177/2158244014525423

Hartline-Grafton H, Levin M. Breakfast and School-Related Outcomes in Children and Adolescents in the US: A Literature Review and its Implications for School Nutrition Policy .  Curr Nutr Rep . 2022;11(4):653-664. doi:10.1007/s13668-022-00434-z

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Advertisements

Top 100 Experimental Research Topics for School & College Students

Top 100 Experimental Research Topics for School & College Students: Are you a student looking for inspiration for your next research project? Research is a vital aspect of your educational journey, and choosing the right topic is often the first step to success. Whether you’re in school or college, finding a compelling experimental research topic can be a daunting task. But fear not! We’ve compiled a list of the top 100 experimental research topics to ignite your curiosity and help you embark on an exciting research journey.

What is Experimental Research?

Experimental research is a research approach that entails the deliberate manipulation of one or more independent variables to assess their impact on one or more dependent variables. It is widely regarded as the “gold standard” of research methodologies due to its capacity to establish causal relationships between variables.

Typically, experimental research designs involve the creation of two distinct groups: the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable, while the control group is not. Subsequently, the researcher compares the outcomes of these two groups to identify any disparities.

Two primary categories of experimental research designs exist: true experiments and quasi-experiments. True experiments employ random assignment of participants to the experimental and control groups, ensuring initial equivalency between the groups and minimizing alternative explanations for observed differences.

Conversely, quasi-experiments lack random assignment, potentially introducing disparities between the experimental and control groups at the outset, which may confound the results. Nevertheless, quasi-experiments can still be valuable in studying cause-and-effect relationships, particularly when random assignment is impractical or ethically challenging.

Experimental research finds applications across diverse fields such as science, medicine, education, and business. It serves as a potent tool for comprehending how various factors influence outcomes and for developing novel products and interventions.

Consider the following examples of experimental research :

A scientist aims to assess a new drug’s effectiveness in treating high blood pressure. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either the new drug or a placebo. After several weeks, their blood pressure is measured, and the results between the two groups are compared.

A teacher seeks to investigate the impact of various teaching methods on student achievement. Students are randomly allocated to different classrooms, each utilizing a distinct teaching method. At the end of the semester, the students’ test scores are compared to identify the most effective teaching method.

A marketing manager intends to evaluate the influence of a new advertising campaign on product sales. A random sample of customers is chosen and assigned to either view the new advertising campaign or not. After several weeks, sales data from the two groups are compared to determine the campaign’s effectiveness.

Major Types of Experimental Research Design

There are three main types of experimental research designs:

1. Pre-experimental research designs

Pre-experimental research designs are the simplest type of experimental design. They do not involve random assignment, and the researcher typically only tests one group of participants. Pre-experimental research designs are often used to generate preliminary data or to explore new research questions. However, they are not considered to be as rigorous as other types of experimental designs because they are more prone to confounding variables.

Here are some examples of pre-experimental research designs:

• One-shot case study design: The researcher tests a single group of participants after they have been exposed to the independent variable.
• One-group pretest-posttest design: The researcher tests a single group of participants before and after they have been exposed to the independent variable.
• Static-group comparison design: The researcher compares two groups of participants, one of which has been exposed to the independent variable and the other of which has not.

2. Quasi-experimental research designs

Quasi-experimental research designs are more rigorous than pre-experimental research designs because they involve some form of control group. However, they do not involve random assignment. Quasi-experimental research designs are often used in situations where random assignment is not feasible or ethical.

Here are some examples of quasi-experimental research designs:

• Non-equivalent control group design: The researcher compares two groups of participants, one of which has been exposed to the independent variable and the other of which has not. The two groups are not randomly assigned, but the researcher tries to match them on relevant characteristics to reduce the risk of confounding variables.
• Time series design: The researcher tests a single group of participants multiple times over time, both before and after they have been exposed to the independent variable.
• Interrupted time series design: The researcher tests a single group of participants multiple times over time, both before and after they have been exposed to the independent variable. However, there is an interruption in the time series, such as a change in policy or practice, that may affect the dependent variable.

3. True experimental research designs

True experimental research designs are the most rigorous type of experimental design. They involve random assignment and a control group. True experimental research designs are considered to be the best way to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables.

Here are some examples of true experimental research designs:

• Randomized controlled trial (RCT): The researcher randomly assigns participants to either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable, while the control group is not. The researcher then compares the outcomes of the two groups to see if there is a difference.
• Posttest-only control group design: The researcher randomly assigns participants to either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable, while the control group is not. The researcher then measures the dependent variable in both groups after the experiment is complete.
• Solomon four-group design: This design is similar to the posttest-only control group design, but it also includes two additional groups: a pretest-posttest experimental group and a pretest-posttest control group. This allows the researcher to control for the effects of testing.

Experimental research is a powerful tool for understanding the world around us and developing new ways to improve our lives. By understanding the different types of experimental research designs, we can better evaluate the quality of research and make informed decisions about the findings.

Elements of Experimental Research

Experimental research typically comprises several essential elements that help structure and conduct a rigorous scientific investigation. These elements are crucial for designing, executing, and analyzing experiments effectively. Here are the key elements of experimental research:

• Research Question or Hypothesis : Every experiment begins with a clear research question or a testable hypothesis. This question or hypothesis specifies what the researcher aims to investigate or the relationship they seek to explore.
• Independent Variable : The independent variable is the factor that the researcher intentionally manipulates or varies in the experiment. It is the presumed cause and is under the researcher’s control. In some cases, there may be more than one independent variable.
• Dependent Variable : The dependent variable is the outcome or response that the researcher measures or observes. It is the variable that may be influenced by changes in the independent variable. The dependent variable is what researchers are trying to understand or explain.
• Experimental and Control Groups : To assess the impact of the independent variable, participants or subjects are typically divided into at least two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable, while the control group is not. This comparison helps determine whether any observed effects are due to the manipulation of the independent variable.
• Random Assignment : In true experimental designs, participants are randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Random assignment helps ensure that the groups are comparable and minimizes bias, increasing the internal validity of the experiment.
• Controlled Conditions : Experimental research strives to control and minimize the influence of extraneous variables, which are factors other than the independent variable that could affect the results. This control helps isolate the effects of the independent variable.
• Experimental Procedure : Researchers outline the specific steps and procedures that participants will undergo during the experiment. This includes how the independent variable will be manipulated, how data will be collected, and the sequence of events.
• Data Collection : Data collection involves gathering information about the dependent variable’s responses or outcomes. This is typically done through measurements, observations, surveys, or other data collection methods.
• Data Analysis : After data collection, researchers analyze the collected data using statistical methods to determine whether there are significant differences or relationships between groups. This analysis helps draw conclusions about the impact of the independent variable on the dependent variable.
• Replication : To enhance the reliability of experimental findings, replication involves repeating the experiment under similar conditions to see if the results can be consistently reproduced.
• Ethical Considerations : Researchers must adhere to ethical principles when conducting experiments involving human or animal subjects. This includes obtaining informed consent, ensuring participant well-being, and minimizing harm.
• Reporting and Communication : Researchers communicate their findings by writing research papers or reports that describe the experiment, its methods, results, and conclusions. This enables other scientists to assess and build upon the research.

These elements collectively form the foundation of experimental research, allowing researchers to systematically investigate and establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables in a controlled and methodical manner.

Top Best Experimental Research Topics for School Students

Natural sciences research topics for school students:.

• Investigating How Light Intensity Affects Plant Growth
• Exploring the Relationship Between Salt Concentrations and the Freezing Point of Water
• Comparing Battery Lifespan Among Various Brands
• Studying the Influence of pH on Enzyme Activity
• Examining the Effect of Magnet Strength on the Attraction Distance of a Paperclip

Behavioral Sciences Research Topics for School Students:

• Analyzing the Impact of Music on Concentration
• Contrasting Group Study and Individual Study to Assess Their Effects on Academic Performance
• Investigating the Influence of Reward Systems on Student Motivation
• Exploring the Role of Different Colors in Shaping Mood
• Assessing How Sleep Patterns Affect Academic Performance

Environmental Studies Research Topics for School Students:

• Investigating How Temperature Affects Composting Processes
• Assessing the Consequences of Water Pollution on Aquatic Life
• Exploring the Impact of Urbanization on Local Bird Species
• Studying the Influence of Different Soil Types on Plant Growth
• Examining the Effects of Acid Rain on Plant Growth

Best Experimental Research Topics for College Students

Social sciences research topics for college students:.

• Examining the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health
• Analyzing the Influence of Media Portrayals on Body Image
• Investigating the Effects of Bilingual Education on Academic Achievement
• Exploring the Role of Social Media in Political Campaigns
• Assessing the Impact of Gender Stereotypes on Career Choices

Business and Economics:

• Evaluating the Influence of Online Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Decisions
• The Effect of Advertising on Brand Loyalty
• Analyzing the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Profitability
• The Efficacy of Different Pricing Strategies on Sales
• Investigating the Relationship Between Employee Satisfaction and Productivity
• Effects of Economic Policy Changes on Small Businesses
• The Role of Market Research in Product Development
• The Impact of Globalization on International Trade
• Comparing the Performance of Different Investment Strategies
• Evaluating the Effects of Tax Policies on Economic Growth

Natural Sciences Research Topics for College Students:

• Investigating the Genetic Factors Contributing to Obesity
• Analyzing the Effects of Climate Change on Marine Ecosystems
• Assessing the Impact of Pesticides on Bee Populations
• Studying the Consequences of Pollution on Urban Wildlife
• Examining the Role of Microplastics in Freshwater Ecosystems

Applied Sciences Research Topics for College Students:

• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Machine Learning Algorithms in Predicting Stock Prices
• Analyzing the Significance of Encryption in Ensuring Data Security
• Investigating the Influence of Aerodynamics on Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
• Assessing the Impact of Material Properties on Bridge Stability
• Studying the Efficiency of Solar Panels at Different Angles

Health Sciences Research Topics for College Students:

• Investigating the Role of Exercise in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes
• Analyzing the Effects of Caffeine on Cognitive Performance
• Assessing the Impact of Plant-Based Diets on Heart Health
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Various Physical Therapy Methods in Knee Rehabilitation
• Studying the Role of Mindfulness Meditation in Reducing Stress

Environmental Sciences Research Topics for College Students:

• Examining the Consequences of Deforestation on Local Climate Patterns
• Investigating the Efficacy of Different Oil Spill Cleanup Techniques
• Analyzing the Effects of Organic Farming on Crop Yield
• Assessing the Impact of Noise Pollution on Urban Wildlife
• Examining the Influence of Electronic Waste (E-Waste) on Soil Quality

Computer Sciences Research Topics for College Students:

• Comparing Various Sorting Algorithms for Efficiency
• Evaluating the Security Implications of Different Password Policies
• Analyzing the Impact of User Interface Design on User Experience
• Investigating the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Image Recognition
• Assessing the Energy Efficiency of Different Computer Processors

Economics Research Topics for College Students:

• Examining the Effects of Economic Policies on Inflation
• Analyzing the Role of Microfinance in Alleviating Poverty
• Assessing the Impact of Globalization on Small Businesses
• Investigating the Influence of Exchange Rates on the Export Market
• Evaluating the Relationship Between Unemployment and Crime Rates

Tips for Selecting an Appropriate Experimental Research Topic

Choosing the right topic is fundamental to the success of an experimental research project. Here are some valuable tips to assist students in this selection process:

• Interest : Opt for a topic that genuinely piques your interest. Your passion for the subject will serve as a motivating force throughout the research journey.
• Relevance : Pick a topic that aligns with your field of study. It should complement your academic objectives and enrich your comprehension of the subject matter.
• Feasibility : Ensure that the chosen topic is practical and feasible for research. Consider factors such as resource availability, time constraints, and ethical considerations.
• Uniqueness : Choose a topic that is original and distinctive. This not only enhances the appeal of your research but also contributes to the advancement of your academic field.

Conclusion: 100 Experimental Research Topics for Students

Experimental research is a pivotal component of scientific exploration. It empowers us to establish causal relationships, expand our comprehension of the world, and discover solutions to issues across diverse fields of study.

Engaging in an experimental research project can be a gratifying experience. It enables students to apply their knowledge, cultivate critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and make meaningful contributions to their academic discipline.

Psychology Experiment Ideas

Categories Psychology Education

Quick Ideas | Experiment Ideas | Designing Your Experiment | Types of Research

If you are taking a psychology class, you might at some point be asked to design an imaginary experiment or perform an experiment or study. The idea you ultimately choose to use for your psychology experiment may depend upon the number of participants you can find, the time constraints of your project, and limitations in the materials available to you.

Consider these factors before deciding which psychology experiment idea might work for your project.

This article discusses some ideas you might try if you need to perform a psychology experiment or study.

Table of Contents

A Quick List of Experiment Ideas

If you are looking for a quick experiment idea that would be easy to tackle, the following might be some research questions you want to explore:

• How many items can people hold in short-term memory ?
• Are people with a Type A personality more stressed than those with a Type B personality?
• Does listening to upbeat music increase heart rate?
• Are men or women better at detecting emotions ?
• Are women or men more likely to experience imposter syndrome ?
• Will students conform if others in the group all share an opinion that is different from their own?
• Do people’s heartbeat or breathing rates change in response to certain colors?
• How much do people rely on nonverbal communication to convey information in a conversation?
• Do people who score higher on measures of emotional intelligence also score higher on measures of overall well-being?
• Do more successful people share certain personality traits ?

Most of the following ideas are easily conducted with a small group of participants, who may likely be your classmates. Some of the psychology experiment or study ideas you might want to explore:

Sleep and Short-Term Memory

Does sleep deprivation have an impact on short-term memory ?

Ask participants how much sleep they got the night before and then conduct a task to test short-term memory for items on a list.

Social Media and Mental Health

Is social media usage linked to anxiety or depression?

Ask participants about how many hours a week they use social media sites and then have them complete a depression and anxiety assessment.

Procrastination and Stress

How does procrastination impact student stress levels?

Ask participants about how frequently they procrastinate on their homework and then have them complete an assessment looking at their current stress levels.

Caffeine and Cognition

How does caffeine impact performance on a Stroop test?

In the Stroop test , participants are asked to tell the color of a word, rather than just reading the word. Have a control group consume no caffeine and then complete a Stroop test, and then have an experimental group consume caffeine before completing the same test. Compare results.

Color and Memory

Does the color of text have any impact on memory?

Randomly assign participants to two groups. Have one group memorize words written in black ink for two minutes. Have the second group memorize the same words for the same amount of time, but instead written in red ink. Compare the results.

Weight Bias

How does weight bias influence how people are judged by others?

Find pictures of models in a magazine who look similar, including similar hair and clothing, but who differ in terms of weight. Have participants look at the two models and then ask them to identify which one they think is smarter, wealthier, kinder, and healthier.

Assess how each model was rated and how weight bias may have influenced how they were described by participants.

Music and Exercise

Does music have an effect on how hard people work out?

Have people listen to different styles of music while jogging on a treadmill and measure their walking speed, heart rate, and workout length.

The Halo Effect

How does the Halo Effect influence how people see others?

Show participants pictures of people and ask them to rate the photos in terms of how attractive, kind, intelligent, helpful, and successful the people in the images are.

How does the attractiveness of the person in the photo correlate to how participants rate other qualities? Are attractive people more likely to be perceived as kind, funny, and intelligent?

Eyewitness Testimony

How reliable is eyewitness testimony?

Have participants view video footage of a car crash. Ask some participants to describe how fast the cars were going when they “hit into” each other. Ask other participants to describe how fast the cars were going when they “smashed into” each other.

Give the participants a memory test a few days later and ask them to recall if they saw any broken glass at the accident scene. Compare to see if those in the “smashed into” condition were more likely to report seeing broken glass than those in the “hit into” group.

The experiment is a good illustration of how easily false memories can be triggered.

Simple Psychology Experiment Ideas

If you are looking for a relatively simple psychology experiment idea, here are a few options you might consider.

The Stroop Effect

This classic experiment involves presenting participants with words printed in different colors and asking them to name the color of the ink rather than read the word. Students can manipulate the congruency of the word and the color to test the Stroop effect.

Memory Recall

Students can design a simple experiment to test memory recall by presenting participants with a list of items to remember and then asking them to recall the items after a delay. Students can manipulate the length of the delay or the type of encoding strategy used to see the effect on recall.

Social Conformity

Students can test social conformity by presenting participants with a simple task and manipulating the responses of confederates to see if the participant conforms to the group response.

Selective Attention

Students can design an experiment to test selective attention by presenting participants with a video or audio stimulus and manipulating the presence or absence of a distracting stimulus to see the effect on attention.

Implicit Bias

Students can test implicit bias by presenting participants with a series of words or images and measuring their response time to categorize the stimuli into different categories.

The Primacy/Recency Effect

Students can test the primacy /recency effect by presenting participants with a list of items to remember and manipulating the order of the items to see the effect on recall.

Sleep Deprivation

Students can test the effect of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance by comparing the performance of participants who have had a full night’s sleep to those who have been deprived of sleep.

These are just a few examples of simple psychology experiment ideas for students. The specific experiment will depend on the research question and resources available.

Elements of a Good Psychology Experiment

Finding psychology experiment ideas is not necessarily difficult, but finding a good experimental or study topic that is right for your needs can be a little tough. You need to find something that meets the guidelines and, perhaps most importantly, is approved by your instructor.

Requirements may vary, but you need to ensure that your experiment, study, or survey is:

• Easy to set up and carry out
• Easy to find participants willing to take part
• Free of any ethical concerns

In some cases, you may need to present your idea to your school’s institutional review board before you begin to obtain permission to work with human participants.

Consider Your Own Interests

At some point in your life, you have likely pondered why people behave in certain ways. Or wondered why certain things seem to always happen. Your own interests can be a rich source of ideas for your psychology experiments.

As you are trying to come up with a topic or hypothesis, try focusing on the subjects that fascinate you the most. If you have a particular interest in a topic, look for ideas that answer questions about the topic that you and others may have. Examples of topics you might choose to explore include:

• Development
• Personality
• Social behavior

This can be a fun opportunity to investigate something that appeals to your interests.

Read About Classic Experiments

Sometimes reviewing classic psychological experiments that have been done in the past can give you great ideas for your own psychology experiments. For example, the false memory experiment above is inspired by the classic memory study conducted by Elizabeth Loftus.

Textbooks can be a great place to start looking for topics, but you might want to expand your search to research journals. When you find a study that sparks your interest, read through the discussion section. Researchers will often indicate ideas for future directions that research could take.

Ask Your Instructor

Your professor or instructor is often the best person to consult for advice right from the start.

In most cases, you will probably receive fairly detailed instructions about your assignment. This may include information about the sort of topic you can choose or perhaps the type of experiment or study on which you should focus.

If your instructor does not assign a specific subject area to explore, it is still a great idea to talk about your ideas and get feedback before you get too invested in your topic idea. You will need your teacher’s permission to proceed with your experiment anyway, so now is a great time to open a dialogue and get some good critical feedback.

Experiments vs. Other Types of Research

One thing to note, many of the ideas found here are actually examples of surveys or correlational studies .

For something to qualify as a tru e experiment, there must be manipulation of an independent variable .

For many students, conducting an actual experiment may be outside the scope of their project or may not be permitted by their instructor, school, or institutional review board.

If your assignment or project requires you to conduct a true experiment that involves controlling and manipulating an independent variable, you will need to take care to choose a topic that will work within the guidelines of your assignment.

Types of Psychology Experiments

There are many different types of psychology experiments that students could perform. Examples of psychological research methods you might use include:

Correlational Study

This type of study examines the relationship between two variables. Students could collect data on two variables of interest, such as stress and academic performance, and see if there is a correlation between the two.

Experimental Study

In an experimental study, students manipulate one variable and observe the effect on another variable. For example, students could manipulate the type of music participants listen to and observe its effect on their mood.

Observational Study

Observational studies involve observing behavior in a natural setting . Students could observe how people interact in a public space and analyze the patterns they see.

Survey Study

Students could design a survey to collect data on a specific topic, such as attitudes toward social media, and analyze the results.

A case study involves in-depth analysis of a single individual or group. Students could conduct a case study of a person with a particular disorder, such as anxiety or depression, and examine their experiences and treatment options.

Quasi-Experimental Study

Quasi-experimental studies are similar to experimental studies, but participants are not randomly assigned to groups. Students could investigate the effects of a treatment or intervention on a particular group, such as a classroom of students who receive a new teaching method.

Longitudinal Study

Longitudinal studies involve following participants over an extended period of time. Students could conduct a longitudinal study on the development of language skills in children or the effects of aging on cognitive abilities.

These are just a few examples of the many different types of psychology experiments that students could perform. The specific type of experiment will depend on the research question and the resources available.

Steps for Doing a Psychology Experiment

When conducting a psychology experiment, students should follow several important steps. Here is a general outline of the process:

Define the Research Question

Before conducting an experiment, students should define the research question they are trying to answer. This will help them to focus their study and determine the variables they need to manipulate and measure.

Develop a Hypothesis

Based on the research question, students should develop a hypothesis that predicts the experiment’s outcome. The hypothesis should be testable and measurable.

Select Participants

Students should select participants who meet the criteria for the study. Participants should be informed about the study and give informed consent to participate.

Design the Experiment

Students should design the experiment to test their hypothesis. This includes selecting the appropriate variables, creating a plan for manipulating and measuring them, and determining the appropriate control conditions.

Collect Data

Once the experiment is designed, students should collect data by following the procedures they have developed. They should record all data accurately and completely.

Analyze the Data

After collecting the data, students should analyze it to determine if their hypothesis was supported or not. They can use statistical analyses to determine if there are significant differences between groups or if there are correlations between variables.

Interpret the Results

Based on the analysis, students should interpret the results and draw conclusions about their hypothesis. They should consider the study’s limitations and their findings’ implications.

Report the Results

Finally, students should report the results of their study. This may include writing a research paper or presenting their findings in a poster or oral presentation.

Britt MA. Psych Experiments . Avon, MA: Adams Media; 2007.

Martin DW. Doing Psychology Experiments. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning; 2008.

211+ Best Experimental Research Topics for Students [2024]

Experimental research serves as a cornerstone in scientific inquiry, allowing researchers to test hypotheses through controlled experiments. 

For students, engaging in experimental research not only fosters a deeper understanding of theoretical concepts but also cultivates critical thinking and problem-solving skills essential for academic success. 

By exploring experimental research topics, students gain hands-on experience, honing their analytical abilities while gaining practical insights into their chosen fields of study. 

In this blog, we will delve into a myriad of experimental research topics for students across various disciplines, providing inspiration and guidance for conducting meaningful experiments and advancing academic endeavors.

What is Experimental Research?

Table of Contents

Experimental research is a systematic approach to scientific inquiry where researchers manipulate one or more variables to observe the effect on another variable, known as the dependent variable, while controlling other factors. 

This method aims to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables, providing empirical evidence to support or refute hypotheses. Through controlled experiments conducted in laboratory or field settings, researchers can investigate phenomena, test theories, and draw conclusions about the underlying mechanisms governing natural phenomena. 

Experimental research plays a crucial role in advancing knowledge across various disciplines, from psychology and medicine to physics and engineering, by providing empirical evidence to support theoretical claims.

Importance of Experimental Research Topics for Students

Experimental research topics for students are crucial for several reasons:

Hands-on Learning

Experimental research topics offer students practical experience in applying theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios, enhancing their understanding of complex concepts.

Critical Thinking Skills

Engaging in experimental research cultivates critical thinking skills as students design experiments, analyze data, and draw conclusions, fostering a deeper understanding of scientific methodologies.

Problem-Solving Abilities

By tackling experimental challenges, students develop problem-solving abilities essential for navigating academic and professional environments.

Personalized Learning

Students can explore topics aligned with their interests and passions, fostering a sense of ownership and motivation in their academic pursuits.

Preparation for Future Endeavors

Experimental research equips students with essential skills and experiences valuable for future academic pursuits, research endeavors, and professional careers.

List of Experimental Research Topics for Students

Here’s a list of experimental research topics for students across various fields can explore:

• The effects of mindfulness meditation on stress reduction.
• Investigating the impact of social media usage on self-esteem.
• Examining the relationship between sleep quality and academic performance.
• The influence of music on cognitive function and memory.
• Exploring the bystander effect in emergency situations.
• Investigating the effects of color on mood and productivity.
• The relationship between exercise and mental health outcomes.
• Examining the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy in anxiety management.
• Investigating the effects of peer pressure on decision-making.
• The impact of parental involvement on children’s academic achievement.
• Exploring the psychology of addiction and its treatment.
• Investigating the role of genetics in personality traits.
• Examining the effects of early childhood trauma on adult mental health.
• The influence of cultural factors on perception and behavior.
• Investigating the placebo effect and its implications for medical treatment.
• Investigating the effects of different diets on gut microbiota composition.
• Examining the impact of environmental pollutants on amphibian populations.
• Investigating the efficacy of natural remedies in treating common ailments.
• Exploring the genetics of aging and longevity.
• The effects of climate change on plant phenology and growth patterns.
• Investigating the role of gut-brain axis in mental health disorders.
• Examining the effects of exercise on cardiovascular health.
• Exploring the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
• Investigating the ecological impacts of invasive species.
• Examining the effects of light pollution on nocturnal animals.
• Exploring the genetics of rare diseases and potential treatments.
• Investigating the biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems.
• Examining the effects of different pollutants on aquatic organisms.
• Exploring the role of epigenetics in gene expression.
• Investigating the evolutionary origins of human behavior.
• Investigating the properties of superconductors at different temperatures.
• Exploring the behavior of quantum particles in entangled states.
• Investigating the relationship between temperature and electrical conductivity in metals.
• Examining the principles of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics.
• Exploring the physics of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.
• Investigating the properties of materials under extreme pressure conditions.
• Examining the behavior of fluids in microgravity environments.
• Exploring the principles of chaos theory and deterministic systems.
• Investigating the physics of sound and its applications in acoustics.
• Examining the behavior of particles in accelerators and colliders.
• Exploring the properties of electromagnetic waves and their applications.
• Investigating the phenomenon of gravitational waves and their detection.
• Examining the principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer.
• Exploring the physics of nanomaterials and their applications.
• Investigating the principles of quantum computing and its potential applications.
• Investigating the properties of different catalysts in chemical reactions.
• Exploring the principles of green chemistry and sustainable synthesis methods.
• Investigating the kinetics of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
• Examining the behavior of nanoparticles in solution.
• Exploring the chemistry of medicinal plants and natural remedies.
• Investigating the effects of pH on chemical reactions.
• Examining the properties of polymers and their applications.
• Exploring the chemistry of atmospheric pollutants and their effects on the environment.
• Investigating the principles of electrochemistry and battery technology.
• Examining the synthesis and properties of novel materials for electronic devices.
• Exploring the chemistry of food additives and preservatives.
• Investigating the mechanisms of drug metabolism in the human body.
• Examining the properties of supercritical fluids and their applications.
• Exploring the chemistry of fermentation and its industrial applications.
• Investigating the synthesis and properties of nanomaterials for biomedical applications.

Computer Science

• Investigating the effectiveness of machine learning algorithms in predicting stock prices.
• Exploring the security vulnerabilities of blockchain technology.
• Investigating the impact of virtual reality on learning outcomes.
• Examining the effectiveness of different programming languages in software development.
• Exploring the potential of quantum computing in solving complex problems.
• Investigating the impact of social media algorithms on user behavior.
• Examining the privacy implications of data mining techniques.
• Exploring the principles of artificial intelligence and its ethical considerations.
• Investigating the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures in protecting against cyber threats.
• Examining the potential of augmented reality in enhancing user experiences.
• Exploring the applications of natural language processing in text analysis.
• Investigating the impact of mobile technology on daily life.
• Examining the effectiveness of different encryption techniques in securing data.
• Exploring the principles of distributed computing and its applications.
• Investigating the potential of autonomous vehicles in improving transportation systems.

Environmental Science

• Investigating the impact of deforestation on biodiversity loss.
• Exploring the effects of climate change on ocean acidification.
• Investigating the efficacy of renewable energy technologies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• Examining the effects of pollution on air quality and public health.
• Exploring the restoration of degraded ecosystems and their ecological benefits.
• Investigating the relationship between urbanization and heat island effects.
• Examining the effects of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems.
• Exploring the principles of sustainable agriculture and food production.
• Investigating the impacts of invasive species on native biodiversity.
• Examining the effectiveness of conservation strategies in protecting endangered species.
• Exploring the effects of water pollution on aquatic ecosystems and human health.
• Investigating the potential of carbon sequestration techniques in mitigating climate change.
• Examining the impacts of land use changes on ecosystem services.
• Exploring the principles of ecological modeling and their applications in conservation.
• Investigating the effects of habitat fragmentation on wildlife populations.
• Investigating the effects of social media on interpersonal relationships.
• Exploring the impact of income inequality on social mobility.
• Investigating the factors influencing voting behavior in democratic societies.
• Examining the effects of globalization on cultural diversity.
• Exploring the dynamics of family structures and their impact on child development.
• Investigating the correlation between socioeconomic status and access to education.
• Examining the effects of mass media on shaping public opinion.
• Exploring the relationship between gender equality and economic development.
• Investigating the impact of immigration on social cohesion.
• Examining the role of religion in shaping societal norms and values.
• Exploring the dynamics of social movements and their impact on policy change.
• Investigating the effects of racial discrimination on mental health outcomes.
• Examining the relationship between crime rates and socioeconomic factors.
• Exploring the influence of cultural norms on gender roles and identity.
• Investigating the impact of technology on social interactions and community cohesion.
• Investigating the effectiveness of flipped classrooms in improving student learning outcomes.
• Exploring the impact of inclusive education on students with disabilities.
• Investigating the effects of parental involvement on student achievement.
• Examining the role of teacher-student relationships in academic success.
• Exploring the efficacy of project-based learning in fostering critical thinking skills.
• Investigating the impact of standardized testing on student stress levels.
• Examining the effectiveness of online learning platforms in distance education.
• Exploring the benefits of early childhood education on long-term academic success.
• Investigating the effects of classroom environment on student motivation.
• Examining the impact of socioeconomic factors on educational attainment.
• Exploring the role of technology in personalized learning and adaptive instruction.
• Investigating the effectiveness of bilingual education programs in language acquisition.
• Examining the impact of school nutrition programs on student health and academic performance.
• Exploring the benefits of arts education on cognitive development and creativity.
• Investigating the relationship between school climate and student behavior.
• Investigating the impact of minimum wage laws on employment levels.
• Exploring the effects of globalization on income inequality.
• Investigating the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability.
• Examining the effects of government subsidies on agricultural markets.
• Exploring the impact of foreign direct investment on economic development.
• Investigating the effects of trade tariffs on international trade flows.
• Examining the relationship between inflation and interest rates.
• Exploring the impact of unemployment on mental health and well-being.
• Investigating the effectiveness of fiscal policy in mitigating economic recessions.
• Examining the role of entrepreneurship in economic growth and innovation.
• Exploring the effects of income taxation on labor supply and consumer behavior.
• Investigating the relationship between education levels and earning potential.
• Examining the impacts of economic sanctions on target countries.
• Exploring the principles of behavioral economics and decision-making.
• Investigating the role of central banks in monetary policy and economic stability.

Political Science

• Investigating the factors influencing voter turnout in elections.
• Exploring the effects of political polarization on democratic institutions.
• Investigating the impact of media framing on public opinion.
• Examining the role of political parties in shaping policy agendas.
• Exploring the dynamics of international diplomacy and conflict resolution.
• Investigating the effects of electoral systems on political representation.
• Examining the relationship between political ideology and policy preferences.
• Exploring the impact of campaign finance regulations on electoral outcomes.
• Investigating the effects of gerrymandering on political representation.
• Examining the role of interest groups in the policy-making process.
• Exploring the impact of political propaganda on public perceptions.
• Investigating the effects of term limits on political accountability.
• Examining the role of social movements in driving political change.
• Exploring the dynamics of political leadership and decision-making.
• Investigating the impact of globalization on national sovereignty.

Health Sciences

• Investigating the effects of lifestyle factors on cardiovascular health.
• Exploring the efficacy of alternative medicine approaches in pain management.
• Investigating the relationship between diet and mental health outcomes.
• Examining the effects of stress on immune system function.
• Exploring the efficacy of vaccination programs in preventing infectious diseases.
• Investigating the impact of healthcare disparities on health outcomes.
• Examining the effects of air pollution on respiratory health.
• Exploring the relationship between sleep quality and cognitive function.
• Investigating the efficacy of telemedicine in delivering healthcare services.
• Examining the effects of aging on musculoskeletal health.
• Exploring the relationship between gut microbiota and metabolic disorders.
• Investigating the impact of exercise on mental health and well-being.
• Examining the effects of environmental toxins on reproductive health.
• Exploring the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in stress management.
• Investigating the relationship between social support and health outcomes.

Engineering

• Investigating the efficiency of renewable energy technologies in power generation.
• Exploring the potential of 3D printing in manufacturing and prototyping.
• Investigating the effects of material properties on structural integrity in engineering design.
• Examining the efficiency of water treatment technologies in wastewater management.
• Exploring the potential of nanotechnology in drug delivery systems.
• Investigating the impact of transportation infrastructure on urban development.
• Examining the effects of seismic retrofitting on building resilience in earthquake-prone areas.
• Exploring the principles of artificial intelligence in autonomous vehicle navigation.
• Investigating the efficacy of biodegradable materials in sustainable packaging.
• Examining the potential of robotics in healthcare applications.
• Exploring the effects of climate change on civil engineering infrastructure.
• Investigating the efficiency of smart grid technologies in electricity distribution.
• Examining the impact of renewable energy integration on power grid stability.
• Exploring the potential of biomimicry in engineering design.
• Investigating the principles of quantum computing in information technology.
• Investigating the effects of corporate social responsibility initiatives on brand reputation.
• Exploring the impact of organizational culture on employee satisfaction and productivity.
• Investigating the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty in service industries.
• Examining the effects of e-commerce on traditional retail markets.
• Exploring the impact of supply chain disruptions on business resilience.
• Investigating the effectiveness of marketing strategies in influencing consumer behavior.
• Examining the relationship between leadership styles and organizational performance.
• Exploring the effects of globalization on multinational corporations.
• Investigating the impact of technology adoption on business innovation.
• Examining the effects of workplace diversity on team performance and creativity.
• Exploring the relationship between financial incentives and employee motivation.
• Investigating the effects of mergers and acquisitions on corporate profitability.
• Examining the impact of digital transformation on business operations.
• Exploring the principles of risk management and its applications in business decision-making.
• Investigating the relationship between organizational structure and agility in fast-paced markets.

Literature and Language Studies

• Investigating the impact of translation on the reception of literary works in different cultures.
• Exploring the evolution of language through historical literature analysis .
• Investigating the portrayal of gender roles in contemporary literature.
• Examining the influence of literary movements on societal attitudes and values.
• Exploring the use of symbolism in literary works and its interpretation.
• Investigating the effects of bilingualism on cognitive development and language proficiency.
• Examining the relationship between language and identity in immigrant communities.
• Exploring the depiction of mental illness in literature and its impact on stigma.
• Investigating the role of literature in fostering empathy and understanding.
• Examining the influence of political ideology on literary censorship.
• Exploring the use of narrative techniques in autobiographical literature.
• Investigating the portrayal of cultural diversity in contemporary literature.
• Examining the relationship between language and power in political discourse.
• Exploring the representation of marginalized voices in literature.
• Investigating the effects of translation strategies on the fidelity of literary texts.
• Investigating the influence of digital media on storytelling techniques in contemporary literature.
• Exploring the portrayal of environmental themes and sustainability in literature across different cultural contexts.

These experimental research topics for students span various disciplines, offering students a wide range of avenues for exploration and inquiry in their academic pursuits.

Tips for Conducting Experimental Research Topics

Conducting experimental research can be a challenging but rewarding endeavor. Here are some tips to help students effectively plan and carry out their experiments:

• Clearly define your research question and objectives to guide your experimental design.
• Develop a detailed experimental protocol outlining procedures, variables, and controls.
• Ensure proper randomization and blinding techniques to minimize bias and ensure validity.
• Collect data meticulously, recording observations accurately and consistently.
• Analyze data rigorously using appropriate statistical methods to draw meaningful conclusions.
• Consider ethical considerations throughout the research process, obtaining necessary approvals and consent.
• Communicate findings effectively through clear and concise reporting in academic formats.
• Iterate and refine your experimental approach based on feedback and further analysis for continuous improvement.

Wrapping Up

Exploring experimental research topics for students is a valuable opportunity for intellectual growth and academic development. 

Through hands-on inquiry and investigation, students can deepen their understanding of theoretical concepts, hone critical thinking skills, and cultivate a passion for scientific exploration. 

Engaging in experimental research fosters creativity, resilience, and problem-solving abilities essential for success in both academic and professional realms. Moreover, the interdisciplinary nature of experimental research encourages students to bridge gaps between various fields, fostering a holistic approach to knowledge acquisition. 

By embracing experimentation, students not only contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge but also empower themselves to become lifelong learners and innovative thinkers prepared to tackle the challenges of the future.

1. How do I narrow down my topic?

Start by brainstorming broad areas of interest and gradually narrow down your focus based on feasibility, resources, and academic relevance.

2. Can I change my topic midway through the research?

While it’s best to stick with your chosen topic, sometimes unforeseen circumstances may require adjustments. Consult with your supervisor or mentor before making any significant changes.

3. How long does it take to conduct experimental research?

The duration of experimental research varies depending on the complexity of the topic, availability of resources, and experimental design. It could range from a few weeks to several months or even years.

Related Posts

Science Fair Project Ideas For 6th Graders

When it comes to Science Fair Project Ideas For 6th Graders, the possibilities are endless! These projects not only help students develop essential skills, such…

Java Project Ideas for Beginners

Java is one of the most popular programming languages. It is used for many applications, from laptops to data centers, gaming consoles, scientific supercomputers, and…

151+ Experimental Research Topics For Students

Welcome to our blog post about fun new experimental research topics! This blog is for anyone who likes to learn more about experiments and discoveries. Experiments help researchers test ideas and find new facts. They are essential for learning new things in science, health, and more.

In this blog, we will examine some new topics researchers explore through experiments. You’ll learn about new studies in many different areas. This includes new technology, medicine, psychology, business, and nature.

The goals are to show how experiments work and highlight excellent new topics. We want this blog to explain experiments simply for everyone to understand. Get ready to learn about the interesting experimental research topics researchers are testing now. The experiments could lead to significant breakthroughs and new knowledge.

Why Choose Experimental Research?

Table of Contents

Experiments help us learn new things. By doing experiments, researchers can test ideas to see if they are true. Here are some key reasons experiments are helpful:

• Experiments allow researchers to study cause and effect. They can change things on purpose to see what happens.
• It helps control variables. Researchers change some things but keep other things the same. This helps them know what caused the effect.
• Experiments allow repetition. Researchers can repeat experiments many times to confirm results.
• It reduces bias. Careful experiments follow set scientific methods to get objective data.
• Experiments lead to discoveries. Many innovations and breakthroughs started from experiments.
• It tests new theories. Researchers can use experiments to support or disprove theories.
• Experiments drive progress. As we learn from experiments, science and technology move forward.

The controlled setting of experiments helps researchers gain new knowledge. Experiments will continue helping us make new findings and innovations.

How to Select Experimental Research Topics

Selecting experimental research topics can be exciting yet challenging. Here are some steps to guide you through the process:

• Choose topics you are curious about. Pick questions you really want to find answers for. This will keep you motivated.
• Look for topics with gaps in knowledge. Focus on questions where experiments can uncover new findings.
• Consider practical topics. Research things that could lead to useful applications if successful.
• Review current research. Build on what others have already studied in your topic area.
• Match topics to available resources. Make sure you have the budget, equipment, and access needed.
• Evaluate risks and ethics. Avoid topics if experiments could be dangerous or unethical.
• Get feedback on ideas. Discuss potential issues with advisors to refine them.
• Be open to discoveries. Sometimes, experiments lead to unexpected new insights.
• Make topics specific. Narrow down broad areas into specific, testable questions.
• Double-check methods are valid. Confirm you can adequately test your topic through experiments.

The proper research topic will be feasible, ethical, and specific, leading to new knowledge. By following these tips, you can select exciting experimental research topics.

151+ Experimental Research Topics

Here are the 151+ experimental research topics across various fields. 

• How do different teaching methods affect learning math?
• Using music therapy to reduce anxiety in hospital patients.
• The link between exercise and thinking skills in older adults.
• Can meditation lower stress levels in college students?
• Social media’s effect on how teenagers view their bodies.
• Testing a new medicine for a specific illness.
• How lack of sleep affects decision-making.
• Does speaking two languages impact children’s thinking?
• A new way to help kids understand what they read.
• Does diet affect how well students do in school?
• Using virtual reality to treat fears.
• Learning outdoors and how it helps kids learn.
• Does music help people work better?
• Do happy workers do better at their jobs?
• A new way to sell products and increase sales.
• How video games affect kids’ attention spans.
• Testing a vaccine to prevent disease.
• Does a more interesting environment change animals’ behavior?
• Parental involvement and kids’ grades.
• Does talking to someone help with depression?
• Does using screens before bed affect sleep?
• Which exercises are best for heart health?
• How friends and family affect someone’s health.
• Learning new words in another language.
• Does drawing or painting help cancer patients feel better?
• How does caffeine affect how fast people react?
• How parents’ relationships affect their kids’ relationships.
• A new way to help kids who break the rules.
• Does having parks in a city make people happier?
• Can mindfulness help with pain?
• Does being rich or poor affect kids’ grades?
• Different ways to lead a team at work.
• Can older students help younger students do better in school?
• Does color affect what people buy?
• Does exercise help college students feel better?
• A new way to help people who had bad experiences.
• How divorce affects kids’ feelings.
• Does the weather affect how plants grow?
• Do kids who feel good do better in school?
• Testing a new way to find kids with autism.
• How social media affects how teenagers feel about themselves.
• Can mindfulness make people feel better at work?
• Does personality affect how good a leader someone is?
• Does a new way to teach science help kids learn?
• Does sleep affect how well people play sports?
• Can eating certain foods help hearts stay healthy?
• A new way to help parents handle kids’ behavior.
• How lights at night affect animals.
• Does virtual reality help people get over fears?
• Does watching TV affect how well little kids talk to others?
• A new way to help kids learn math.
• Can mindfulness make people do better at work?
• Does personality affect how good a leader is?
• Do ideas about what boys and girls can do affect their desires?
• Can a new way to help kids learn math?
• How does reading affect how well kids do in school?
• Does coloring or drawing help people with cancer feel better?
• How does drinking coffee or tea affect how fast people think?
• Can parents’ relationships affect their kids’ relationships?
• How does spending time outside affect how well kids do in school?
• How does music affect how well people work?
• Can a new way to sell things make more money?
• How do video games affect how well kids pay attention?
• Does a shot prevent a certain sickness?
• How do different rooms affect how animals act?
• Does spending time with family and friends affect how healthy someone is?
• How does learning a new language affect kids’ grades?
• Can talking to someone help with feeling sad?
• How does watching TV or phone before bed affect sleep?
• Which exercises are best for keeping hearts healthy?
• How does having good friends affect how well kids do in school?
• How does talking to someone about problems help?
• How does having parents who are divorced affect kids’ feelings?
• How does playing with friends affect how well kids learn?
• Can learning mindfulness make people feel better at work?
• How does someone’s personality affect how good they are at leading?
• Can a new way to teach science make kids learn better?
• How do ideas about what boys and girls can do affect what they want to do?
• Can getting enough sleep help kids play sports better?
• How does eating healthy food affect how healthy someone’s heart is?
• Can learning a new way to be a parent help kids behave better?
• How does light at night affect animals’ behavior?
• Can using virtual reality help people stop being afraid of something?
• How does watching TV affect how well little kids can talk to others?
• Can a new way to teach math help kids learn better?
• Can coloring or drawing help people who have cancer feel better?
• How does coffee or tea affect how fast people think?
• Can having parents who get along well affect how kids get along with others?
• Can listening to music help people work better?
• How do different exercises affect how well someone’s heart works?
• Can having good friends help kids do better in school?
• Can having parents who are divorced affect kids’ feelings?
• How does the weather affect how plants grow?
• Can playing with friends help kids learn better?
• How does learning mindfulness make people feel at work?
• Can someone’s personality affect how good they are at leading?
• How does learning a new way to teach science make kids learn better?
• Can ideas about what boys and girls can do affect what they want to do?
• How does getting enough sleep help kids play sports better?
• Can eating healthy food help someone’s heart stay healthy?
• How does learning a new way to be a parent help kids behave better?
• Can light at night affect how animals behave?
• How does using virtual reality help people stop being afraid of something?
• Can watching TV affect how well little kids can talk to others?
• How does a new way to teach math help kids learn better?
• How does drinking coffee or tea affect how fast people can think?
• How does playing outside affect kids’ happiness?
• Can listening to music help people relax?
• How does eating breakfast affect students’ concentration in school?

Challenges and Considerations in Experimental Research

Here are some key challenges and considerations in experimental research:

• Controlling variables can be complex. Researchers must identify and control all factors that could impact results.
• Results may not be reproducible. Other scientists may get different results when repeating experiments.
• Bias can influence outcomes. Researchers may unintentionally skew results based on expectations.
• Experiments can be time-consuming. Planning, running, and analyzing experiments takes a lot of time.
• Studies can be expensive. Equipment, materials, and personnel costs add up.
• Ethical issues may arise. Experiments must not harm people, animals, or environments.
• Applications can be limited. Discoveries may only apply to limited settings or samples.
• Collaborators may be needed. Complex experiments often require teamwork with experts.
• Negative results happen. An experiment can fail to prove a hypothesis.

Quality experimental research takes careful planning, rigorous methods, and critical thinking. Researchers must address these challenges through their experimental design and protocols.

Tips for Conducting Successful Experimental Research

Here are some tips for conducting successful experimental research:

• Ask a specific question you want to answer
• Do background research to understand what is known
• Create a detailed protocol before starting
• Use control groups for comparison
• Change only one variable at a time
• Use enough participants to get meaningful data
• Carefully record all observations and results
• Use the right tools and methods for measurements
• Analyze data objectively without bias
• Try repeating experiments to confirm the findings
• Document everything thoroughly so others can repeat
• Follow ethical guidelines and get approvals
• Partner with other qualified researchers
• Accept that experiments can fail, but learn from them
• Share your findings through papers and presentations

Careful planning, good protocols, and critical thinking are essential. Following sound scientific methods will lead to meaningful experimental research.

Final Remarks

In conclusion, doing research experiments is a good learning experience. It takes careful planning, paying attention to details, and being ethical. Following the tips in this post, you can handle the complex parts of research experiments and get good results.

Remember to have clear goals, make good plans for the experiments, and check that things are working right. This helps make sure your results are accurate and can be trusted. Work with others, get feedback, and explain your results clearly. This helps science and understanding move forward.

If you’re a student, researcher, or just interested, these ideas will help you do good research experiments. They will help you learn new things and add to what we know in your field.

Similar Articles

How To Do Homework Fast – 11 Tips To Do Homework Fast

Homework is one of the most important parts that have to be done by students. It has been around for…

How to Write an Assignment Introduction – 6 Best Tips

In essence, the writing tasks in academic tenure students are an integral part of any curriculum. Whether in high school,…

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best experiment topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on experiment, 📌 interesting topics to write about experiment, ✅ simple & easy experiment essay titles, 📑 good research topics about experiment, ❓ experimental research questions.

• The Operational Amplifier: A Physical Experiment The main objectives for doing this experiment are: Investigating the use of operational amplifier as an analog comparator Investigating the influence of open-loop characteristics on the circuits in which operational amplifiers are used To measure […]
• Seed Germination Experiment: Results and Discussion The results indicated that the number of germinated seeds differed according to the concentration of solutions. 0625M CaCl2 germinated quickly on the second day and attained the mean of about 10 germinated seeds on […]
• Social Facilitation Experiment with Examples from the Study The study hypothesized that participants’ performances in the audience condition with competition are better than the performances in no audience condition and audience condition of the experiment.
• Psychology: Change Blindness Experiment The independent variable was the type of change, and the dependent variable was the response to detecting the changes. Broadly, it was established that change blindness varied with the type of change introduced because incongruent […]
• The Experiment With Spring Balance The essence of performing this experiment was to verify the relationship between the effects of force on the extension of a coiled spring and as such, verify the principle behind a spring balance.
• The Latent Heat of Vaporization Experiment From the table above, it is evident that water has a specific latent heat of vaporization of 2260kJ/Kg implying that the any mass of water absorbs heat that is proportional to this ratio.
• Bomb Calorimetry: Theory and Experiment Bomb Calorimetry is one of the methods to calculate the standard heat of the reaction of various chemical processes. One of the ways of its application is the determination of the standard heat of organic […]
• A Criticism of the Asch Conformity Experiment In this critical analysis of the experiment, we shall focus on the various assumptions that surrounded the experiment. This can mostly to the experiment carried out in the 1950s by the famous psychologist Solomon Asch.
• Ethics in Social Research: Peculiarities of the Genie Case and the Milgram Experiment The main idea of the experiment consists in the physical and even moral injury of the object. The consent of the experiment was not informed.
• Energy Conservation: The Lab Experiment The motion of a pendulum is a good demonstration of mechanical energy conservation. However, gravity is a conservative force, which is why it does not cause any change to the total mechanical energy of the […]
• Pinacol Rearrangement Laboratory Experiment The first objective of the experiment is to elucidate the formation of a ketone from alcohol through the process of pinacol rearrangement in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid, heat, and boiling chips.
• Optics: The Experiment of Snell’s Law The degree of bending is proportional to the refractive index of the medium. In essence, with an incident ray traversing two media with different refractive indices, the incident ray, the normal to the interface separating […]
• KHT Molar Solubility Experiment Thus, the calculated molarity of NaOH is used to compute the molar solubility of KHT, which is the quantity of KHT moles that are liquefied in every liter before saturation level.
• A Resonance Tube Laboratory Experiment The purpose of the present work was to determine the frequency of the sound wave in the state of resonance. The paper contains calculations of the two frequencies for the two forks and a comparison […]
• Experiment: Growing Tomato Plants Under Light The first seedling was planted into a garden under a condition of strong direct sunlight of about six to eight hours daily and was far away from the light source.
• Pros and Cons of Food Dyes: Experiments With Food Ramesh and Muthuraman argue that there is a certain association between the increased use of food colorants and the elevated rates of ADHD in children.
• Experiment in Cognition: Stroop Effect The method section depicts the specifics of the experimental design, including the characteristics of the participants, the materials used, and the procedure.
• Aluminum vs. Mild Steel Comparison Experiment In addition, to yield strength, percentage of elongation, and ultimate strength, the tensile test experiment may be used to assess additional mechanical properties of the specimen.
• Quasi-Experiments and True Experiments In most cases, the nature of variables and the need of the investigation play a vital role in influencing the criteria for exploration. The analysis focuses on exploring the variation between quasi and true experiments […]
• Stanford Prison Experiment: Results Analysis One of the results that were realized from the experiment was the level of rebellion that the prisoners developed after some time within the prison set up.
• Blindfolded Experiment: Personal Experience As we start walking through the predetermined route, I feel lost in a dark abyss and a strong sense of fear for the unknown starts creeping in.the situation is made less threatening as I hear […]
• Ethical Issues With the Stanford Prison Experiment – Essay Nowadays, modern psychologists are expected to adhere to a strict and rigid code of ethical principles in order to ensure the validity of their practices and the safety of the patients and participants.
• Experiment of the Fluid Mechanics The Experiment was going to be carried out in the following manner: Checking the equipment; Charging the hydraulic bench with water; Placing the plastic caps at the end of the shaft; Increasing/decreasing pressure; Observing the […]
• Steel and Young’s Modulus Experiment The stress at the end of the experiment gave the breaking strength and was 504. The stress-strain curve was re-plotted in the range of 0 to 1% strain to calculate Young’s modulus and 0.
• The Marshmallow Experiment The marshmallow experiment was done by Mischel, and traces back its roots in Trinidad. Mischel wanted to find out the reactions of children towards some psychological aspects.
• Stroop Experiment: Congruent and Incongruent Words The core aim of the Stroop experiment was to reveal the differences in perception of congruent and incongruent words. First, the paper focused on the research plan involving such aspects as hypotheses and methods where […]
• The C-Fern Plant Laboratory Experiment The fusion of the male and female gametes results in the formation and development of a sporophyte, which shifts to the diploid generation and the devolvement of spores.
• Mendelian Corn Genetics: An Experiment Seeds are then sorted out on the basis of their color and shape and the obtained data recorded adjacent to the respective phenotypes. Determine the 2 value for each experiment, and use the table of […]
• The Experiment on Substitution Reactions of Alcohols The purpose of the experiment is to study substitution reactions of alcohols because they can react as nucleophiles or electrophiles, depending on prevailing conditions of the reaction. This experiment illustrates the reaction of 1-butanol with […]
• Food Dye and Bleach Reaction Experiment The rate law demonstrates how the rate correlates with the concentrations of the components of the reaction. It is possible to note that “the power of the concentration in the rate law expression is called […]
• Plastic Bending of Portals Experiment Is to forecast the bending moment diagram, collapse load, the number, and the position at which plastic hinges for the portal are formed To compare the predicted values with the experimental values found from […]
• Free and Serial Memory Recalls in Experiments In the study, the experimenters changed the order in which the items were presented to the participants before each trial to test the ability of the subject to recognize these words it was observed that […]
• Toothpaste Controlled Experiment and Hypothesis The table below would be adopted in designing a controlled experiment to test Sullivan’s hypothesis, which is derived from her assertion that her new toothpaste whitens teeth five times faster than other toothpastes.
• The Solid-Liquid Equilibrium in a Binary System Experiment The cooling curves of the pure compounds and various mixtures were used to construct a solid-liquid phase diagram of the biphenyl and naphthalene systems.
• The Asch Conformity Experiment Asch arranged so that the real subject was to be the next to the last person or the last person in every group to announce his/her answer.
• The Centripetal Force Experiment As force acts on an object in motion, its acceleration and direction of force act towards the center of the circular path.
• Experiment: Frame Deflections and Reactions This guide describes how to set up and perform experiments related to the deflections and reactions of a rectangular portal. The Frame Deflections and Reactions experiment fits into a Test Frame.
• Pendulum Experiment: Pendulum Motion and Factors Affecting Period Following the experiment for the simple pendulum, one can see that the pendulum’s period of motion changes due to the different lengths of the string but not the weight of the washer.
• Cognitive Dissonance and Stanford Prison Experiment The leader of the team, doctor Zimbardo, was also the person who conducted the analysis of the course and the results of the experiment.
• Experiment: Shear Force in a Beam Calculate the theoretical shear force at the cut and complete the Table 2. Calculations: Theoretical Shear Force Sc=w*a/L Where L=0.
• UV & VIS Spectroscopy Experiment The first was to determine the unknown concentrations of samples A and B using linear dilution while the other employed the serial decimal dilution method.
• The Ship of Theseus Thought Experiment and Solution The puzzle is complicated by the later addition of a replica ship being built out of the original parts in the warehouse.
• Dr. Milgram’s Experiment Experimenter was the participant who was giving orders to the na ve subjects to follow the requirements of the experiment. In this case, the na ve subjects realized that the experiment was against their conscience […]
• The Ideal Gas Law in a Practical Experiment The purpose of this laboratory work was to evaluate the ideal gas law for the case of gas in a syringe when the pressure was increased.
• Photoelectric Effect: A Lab Experiment The voltage required to stop the current is proportional to the energy emitted; thus, voltage data is obtained and plotted to obtain the stopping voltage allowing the current to reach zero on the meter.
• The Experiment of Belt-Drive Pulleys As such, with regards to direction, it is expected that for an open pulley arrangement the directions of both the driven and the driving pulley move in tandem.
• The Word Superiority Effect: Letter Detection Experiment In other words, the percentage of correct detection should be higher for trials in which a word appeared rather than a single letter. The percentage of the correct detections when the target letter was in […]
• Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and Ethical Principles The study started in 1929 when USPHS investigated the high incidence of syphilis in the rural areas of the South of the USA and possibilities for its mass treatment.
• Milgram’s Experiment on Obedience: Ethical Issues The subjects were told that the experiment tested the potency of punishment in improving learning capabilities, and were asked to administer electrical shocks to a “learner”.
• CP & CV Measurement for an Ideal Gas: Laboratory Experiment Specific heat capacity is the measure of the heat energy In physics, energy is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of Work_ that can be performed by a force. The study of the […]
• The Elasticity Experiment in Physics The difference between the initial and final values of the position of the lower end of the spring corresponds to the vertical displacement, that is, it shows how much the given weight was able to […]
• The Milgram Experiment and Ethical Issues The experiment was inherently designed in order to force subjects to continue since the goal was to observe the significance and extent of authoritative pressure on human behavior and obedience. Such pressure can be considered […]
• Sugar Results: Experiment on Chocolate When the concentration of glucose was high, the color and odor of the reaction mixture were darker and more intense, respectively, due to a larger amount of products formed.
• Collisions in One Dimension: A Physical Experiment The objective of this experiment is to ascertain that when bodies are involved in an elastic collision, both the energy and the momentum are conserved unlike in a perfectly inelastic collision where only the momentum […]
• Drawing Conclusions from Experience vs. Experiments On the contrary, if one is drawing conclusion from experiments they have to be referred or guided by the results and discussions of the experiment.
• Learning and Behavior-Shaping: Sniffy Experiment It mainly depends on the timing of the conditioned response of the animal to the need given the natural ability of the animal to relate the particular condition to a stimulus or a set of […]
• Real-Life vs. Simulated Prison: Stanford Experiment Zimbardo defended his research, observing that the students had knowingly volunteered for the experiment and were, in fact, being paid well for their participation. Abuse and maltreatment were tolerated in the experiment.
• Chemical Raising Agent in Bread in Lab Experiment Therefore, the gluten content of flour affects the physical properties of flour and the corresponding baked products. The leavening agent was baking powder, which consists of sodium bicarbonate and potassium bitartrate.
• “The Great Climate Experiment” by Ken Caldeira In the article “The Great Climate Experiment: How far can we push the planet?”, the author attempts to describe the problem of environmental pollution resulting from the excessive release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere […]
• Nazi Medical Experiments During the Holocaust The information is maintained by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This photograph is maintained and produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
• Frank Conroy’s Memoir: Life Experiments To emphasize the stop and to draw the readers’ attention to it, Conroy uses the present tense, and the readers become involved in the situation because of observing it through the eyes of a boy […]
• Pinacol Rearrangement Experiment The pinacol rearrangement constitutes the dehydration of pinacol and the stabilization of carbocation by the shift of methyl. The mechanism of the pinacol rearrangement commences with the protonation of one of the two OH groups.
• Louis Pasteur and His Experiments Pasteur found that a diluted solution of this vaccine could kill what he saw as the single-celled micro-organism at the time, the Germ Theory.
• Sensory Receptors’ Response to Stimuli: Experiment The physiology behind the experiment is the response of a receptor to stimuli from the external environment. The hypothesis is that the human body can perceive two distinct stimuli as separate, localize a specific area […]
• Bean Beetles and Oviposition Experiment Then, the chi-squared test was performed to determine if the differences between the observed and the expected number of eggs laid on each bean were statistically significant.
• Obedience in Milgram’s Experiment Milgram created the conditions that helped to reveal the motifs and specifics of the behavior of the participants of the experiment in the most effective way.
• Psychology: The Little Albert Experiment The study began when the participant was in the middle of their first development stage, and as it ended, the child had the unconscious recognition of fear that generalized to multiple objects.
• A Metals Density Virtual Lab Experiment The graduated cylinder was filled with the amount of metal powder, and the outcome was measured as the final volume. The density of the metal was determined using these measurements and the density formula ).
• Biology: Analysis of Egg Experiment The data obtained from the above experiment supports the hypothesis that if the cell is soaked in corn syrup, a hypertonic solution, then water will move out of the cell by osmosis, and the egg […]
• Water Properties as a Solvent: An Experiment Lab In the second part of the work, a mixture of 10 g of solid calcium hydroxide and 50 mL of drinking water in a beaker was initially created.
• Physics Laboratory Experiment on Acceleration The conical pendulum moves at a constant spend in a circular horizontal plane and when the bob is attached to a string, it forms a cone and so it is used to illustrate uniform circular […]
• Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo: Legal Research The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of situational variables on human behavior. What was even worse was that the initiator of the experiment kept watching as these things going on in […]
• Anomalous Expansion of Water: A Home Experiment This investigation proves the hypothesis that water expands anomalously when cooled and increases in volume as it nears its freezing point of zero degree Celsius.
• Natural Sciences. The Phenol Red Broth Test Experiment The tube cap was removed with the little finger of the dominant hand, and the tube mouth was incinerated in the flame.
• Obedience to Authority Figures: Replicating Milgram’s Experiment In other words, Burger claims that Milgram’s studies show that the participants, who continued the procedure after the 150-switch, were likely to continue till the end.
• Customer Research, Experiments, and Surveys Currently, Dell is interviewing individuals to assess the usability of its new products in the market. Dell could use business research to ascertain the proficiency of its advertising.
• The Miller-Urey Experiment and Findings The researchers note that their experiment was designed to mimic the primitive earth’s atmosphere and not the ideal conditions required for the development of amino acids. At the experiment’s conclusion, the solution in the flask […]
• Experimental Neurosis: Shenger-Krestovnikova Experiment and Pavlov’s Theory In this context, it is possible to trace the relationship between a person’s nervous system and his type of temperament, which is determined by its essence by the reaction to external stimuli.
• Chinese Artificial Sun Experiment Given the lack of transparency and the occasional exaggeration of research results in China, it is difficult to evaluate this particular experiment.
• The Urine Volume and Composition Experiment Homeostatic mechanisms in the bodies of all animals are constantly monitoring variables such as pH, ionic concentration, and water volume within the body tissues. The central organ systems involved in homeostasis include the kidney, the […]
• Stanford Prison Experiment vs. Little Albert Experiment The guards eventually devised a system of punishments and rewards to keep the inmates in line. In the Watson experiment, the participant Albert was not informed of the experiment nor his parent but was experimented […]
• The Chinese Room Argument: The World-Famous Experiment Such reasoning, based on the inadmissibility of the presence of real intelligence in a computer, proves that even the physical manifestations of the mind cannot prove the existence of a fundamental mind.
• A Random Variable and Binomial Experiment On the contrary, it is considered a continuous random variable if it’s quantities or representative array of values are not quantifiable and it accepts any numbers on the reference axis or its interval. Conversely, Y […]
• Design Experiment Research in Mathematics Education According to Cobb et al, “design experiments are pragmatic as well as theoretical” in orientation in that the methodology’s core focus is the study of function, both that of the design and the consequent ecology […]
• Scientific Integrity: The Stanford Prison Experiment The most important lesson drawn from the experiment is that scientific integrity is essential in the process of collecting evidence. In conclusion, the Stanford prison experiment is not about groupthink, obedience, and compliance but rather […]
• Conservation of Number Experiment with Children Young children frequently mistake the physical expanse of a collection of items for the number of items in that set. It confirms that young children cannot differentiate between numbers and space since they have not […]
• Ethics of Experiments: What Went Wrong? Finally, the researcher failed to debrief the participants after the study, which could have helped them understand the study’s psychological effects and how to deal with them.
• Non-Replicated Experiments in Commercial Dairy This is because of the practical operation at the dairy farm, the manageability of the day-to-day operation, and the cost involved with them.
• Philosophical Significance of Soul Weight Experiment The experiment that Renee and David were going to conduct is of great interest as the search for the soul has been the question that has occupied the minds of great thinkers since ancient times.
• The Delta Max Paper Airplane Performance Experiment This study aims to propose an experiment in which the performance of the Delta Max paper airplane is compared to other paper airplane models in the context of the range and duration of the flight.
• Controversial Experiment in Psychology History The essence of the project was to simulate prison life and make the participants learn their roles and follow their obligations within the environment.
• D. Hardy & D. Nachman’s “The Human Experiment” I have learned about the connection between corporations’ actions and the presence of dangerous chemicals in the environment. Europe has risen to prominence internationally in limiting environmental dangers and forcing chemical producers to verify the […]
• The Human Experiment: Analysis of Documentary Fortunately, as mentioned in The Human Experiment, some campaigns and activists try to increase awareness and stop the growing levels of unsafe chemicals that poison people around the world.
• The Dipole and Dish Antenna Experiments The transmitter and receiver’s wavelength are in proportion to the antenna height. It indicates that the shorter the antenna, the greater the frequencies, and the larger the transmitter, the lesser the intensity.
• Psychological Experiments on Videogames and Theater Although the experiment has shown no correlation between the sexualization of female characters and women’s perception of their bodies and self-objectification, scientists assume that the effect may appear due to the long-term playing of such […]
• Market Research Experiment: Developing and Testing Hypothesis Statements In a nutshell, the hypothesis should contain all variables on the targeted market group to be studied and a recap of the expected results from the experiment.
• Torque and Equilibrium Experiment Thus, the direction of the torque with respect to the point is essential and shows the ability of the body to rotate in the direction of the resultant vector.
• Nobel Prize for Natural Experiments The two things in the research that impressed me the most is the complexity of the natural experiments and the methods to simplify the research.
• Natural Experiments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The researchers enabled the realization of the impact of immigration on the labor market and the impact of language in this matrix.
• Little Albert Experiment by Watson and Rayner Today, the Little Albert experiment would raise a lot of concerns and would not have a chance to pass the review of the ethical board.
• Experiment on the Bacteriophages Since the basis of the experiment was to measure the number of plaques on previously prepared plates, the only direct measurement was to count the number of such spots on the entire plate, and only […]
• The Hawthorne Experiments and Organization Theory Since the beginning of the previous century, employers were interested in finding out more about the efficiency of the employees and how it could be improved.
• The Tuskegee Experiment in Public Health However, in reality, they received a lethal injection, resulting in 28 of the 399 participants dying from syphilis, 100 from related medical complications, and 40 of the participants’ wives and 19 children becoming infected during […]
• Experiment With Balloons in ”Up” Movie by Pixar The key focus of the mathematical essay is to determine the minimum number of balloons that can lift the building into the air and consider the associated features of this event.
• Chemical Experiment of Reduction of Chromium (VI) 000510?-1, and k-1 = 0. 000684?-1, and k-1 = 0.
• A Statistical Experiment: Junco Birds The presence and content of 2-pentadecanone in the male may be related to the saturation of particular odors that excite the reproductive call of female birds.
• Natural Science: Mouse Experiment For this, it is necessary to sum up the babies in the litter and divide the obtained number by the number of the litters.
• Ethical Issues in “Prison Experiments” Video To resolve the identified ethical issues and prevent them in the future, it is critical to ensure that the subjects are not placed in coercive environments and a vulnerable position as it significantly impacts their […]
• “Facebook’s Unethical Experiment”: Brief Description of the Study In such research, it is necessary to ensure the rights of people, the voluntary nature of their participation, the preventive nature of the presentation of the results, and the warning of possible consequences.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment: Ethics Principles Examples of the violation of these are deception in how the participants selected to be prisoners were delivered to the facility and the violent treatment they experienced.
• Chemical Composition of Cells: A Lab Experiment This laboratory experiment focuses on the chemical composition of cells, appropriate identification of which contributes to the understanding of distinctions between organic and inorganic chemicals.
• Using Animals in Medical Research and Experiments While discussing the use of animals in medical research according to the consequentialist perspective, it is important to state that humans’ preferences cannot be counted higher to cause animals’ suffering; humans and animals’ preferences need […]
• DNA Cloning and Sequencing: The Experiment The plasmid vector pTTQ18 and the GFP PCR product will be digested with restriction enzymes and the desired DNA fragments obtained thereof will be purified by Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ligated with DNA ligase resulting […]
• PH Titrations & Buffer Solutions Experiment The objective of this experiment was partly to determine the behaviour of PH curve of a triprotic acid and hence determine its pKa value, and on the other part to determine the concentration of an […]
• The Cruel Experiment by Stanley Milgram According to the researchers, the presence of a figure empowered to give orders to other participants in the process had a tremendous impact on the latter.
• Research and Experiments: Molecules in Food, Photosynthesis The saliva of humans and some mammals contains amylase: the enzyme that begins the chemical process of food digestion. I took the pollution of the environment with heavy metals and the effect on photosynthesis.
• Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment and African Americans Hesitancy to Receive COVID-19 Vaccines Laurencin states that discrimination of the minority African-Americans in the health sector contributes to the high spread of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States black population.
• Social Media Experiment: The Marketer Tweeter For instance, Twitter is one of the most confusing platforms to participate in because of its wealth of information on the one hand and for being a cesspool of toxic content on the other hand.
• The Chromatography Method: Scientific Experiment SDS-PAGE separates isolated protein of which can be visualized by coo massive stain that binds to the experimental proteins and hence, the intensity of this resultant bands is used to give plasminogen estimation in a […]
• How SCOBY Changes Its Environment: Lab Experiment The means of SCOBY growth in black tea, green tea, chamomile tea, and distilled water are not significantly different. The means of SCOBY growth in black tea and distilled water are not significantly different.
• Pinacol Rearrangement: Chemical Lab Experiment Undertake qualitative analysis of the product using IR and NMR techniques, which provide spectra of functional groups and chemical shifts respectively. Carry out qualitative analysis of the product using 2,4-DNP test, which can detect carbonyl […]
• Bystander Effect: The Stanford Experiment In the Stanford case, most guards including the initiator of the experiment himself thought about what the rest of the group was doing and they all interpreted the inaction of others as a sign that […]
• Micrococcus Luteus Detection Experiment Microbial Physiology, the branch of microbiology responsible for the study of these enzymes, employs a spectrum of tests that detect the known set of enzymes unique to each species of microbe.
• Biology Experiment: Hormone and Its Effect It is emphasized by Erickson and Tadaaki, that avocados do not ripen while attached to the branches, and ethylene increases the speed of ripening. This will be tested by placing avocados under the test bell […]
• Informed Consent in Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment The physicians involved in the experiment failed to inform their participants about the essence of the experiment and its possible outcomes.
• Artificial Blood: Dr. Clark’s Experiment Damage was mainly due to the size of the mouse’s airway. Clark found out that the time for survival was related to the temperature of the fluorocarbon solution.
• Springs and Oscillations: Scientific Experiment From the analysis, the effective mass of the spring was 0. The effective mass of the spring was 0.
• Organ Bath Experiments in Pharmacokinetics The aim of an organ bath experiment is to establish a relationship between the changes in the response and the drug stimulant.
• Physical Lab Experiment on Equilibrium of Objects Through considering the measurements of the bodies with regular shapes, it was easy to locate the C.O. As a result, the body cannot balance if the pivot is not put at the center of gravity.
• Diffusion and Osmosis Experiments The osmolarity of various solutions was also evaluated by noting the changes in weight of potato cylinders in the solutions. The movement of carmine particles in the water was random.
• Atlantic Tomcod’s Adaptation Experiment Conversely, those with the gene survived and passed it on to their young, making them immune to the toxins in the water and ultimately creating a generation of PCB resistant tomcod.
• “The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment” by Sherman and Berk The experiment conducted by the authors throws light on the three stages of the research circle. This is one of the arguments that can be advanced.
• The Analysis of the Seed Removal Experiment Given this, a study carried out with an objective of, first, to determine the impact of seed predation on seed environment, and second, to determine the same on the seed sizes were carried out.
• Experiment: Transients in Power Equipment Circuits One of them is by designing a machine that is well adapted to such conditions of overvoltage, while the other method involves the use of protectors such as lightning arresters or power surges.
• Practical Experiment of Routine Staining Using Hematoxylin and Eosin in the Histopathology Lab For the sake of this practical, there was focus on the human uterus.”This method uses hematoxylin solutions for nuclear staining and eosin solutions for cytoplasm staining”.
• Are Experiments the Only Option? A Look at Dropout Prevention Programs It is, therefore, no wonder that the findings of this study establish propensity-score methods as highly unlikely to replicate the experimental impacts on school dropout programs.
• Thermoelectric Cooling Systems Efficiency Experiment One of the sides of the thermoelectric cooler junction absorbs heat energy when the electric current is passed while the other side dissipates energy in form of heat.
• Flagella Protein Isolation: Scientific Experiment Intra-flagella transport revealed in a model of both membrane and non-membrane bound flagellar protein shuttling between the cytoplasm and flagellar compartments. Here interaction between the proteins and intra-flagella transport takes place.
• Identifying Isolated Bacteria: Scientific Experiment The steps are as follows: Add slowly drops of crystal violet on the surface of the slide completely and for 1 minute allow it to stand.
• The DNA Extraction Procedure: Scientific Experiment It touches on plant cell DNA extraction, animal cell DNA extraction, sequence used in DNA extraction and composition of the sample.
• Aerial Experiment Association & Wright Brothers Conflict The AEA made up their mind and decided to partake in the rivalry. The truth was that, all this planes being made and flown by the AEA were part of the wrights’ designs.
• Fiber Optics Laboratory Experiments The aim of this report is to introduce the process and the results of the laboratory experiments on fiber optics. The choice of the fiber cable and the waves will define the theoretical optical loss.
• The Science About the Experiments: Colloidal Systems This Debye length depends on the concentration of the colloidal system and charge on the colloidal particles. This works on the principle of scattering of light by the particles in the colloidal system.
• Laboratory Experiments on Animals: Argument Against In some cases, the animals are not given any painkillers because their application may alter the effect of the medication which is investigated.
• The Claims of Reason: Stanley Cavell’s Experiment In another statement, he made us understand that the owner of the doll and we, humans, know the insight of the doll, gradually landing us in the direction he is taking us to the thought-provoking […]
• Hypnosis: Experiments and Non-Experiments The experimental study selected for this research will be one conducted by Geiselman, Fisher, MacKinnon and Holland which sought to determine whether hypnosis or cognitive retrieval mnemonics was useful for enhancing the memory of eyewitnesses […]
• Wine Identification Experiment One of the important processes of evaluation is olfaction, considering that the aroma of the wine is an important part of its flavor. The present report describes the methodology of the experiment and provides a […]
• The Stanford Prison Experiment Overview The persons who agreed to participate in the experiment were all volunteers simply because the chief experimenter did not control the warders during the experiment in which they infringed upon the human rights of the […]
• Opinion and Clarification of the Stanford Prison Experiment An analysis of the experiment reveals that the fake prison environment managed to evoke emotions and feelings in the prisoners, the prison warden, and even Zimbardo who played the warden.
• Stanford Prison Experiment Definition Some played the role of prisoners and others that of prison guards in a situation formed to suggest a sense of the psychology of custody.
• The Stanford Prison Experiment and My Perception of Human Behaviour Nevertheless, despite the fact that in his book The Lucifer Effect: Understanding how good people turn evil, Zimbardo strived to undermine the soundness of a dispositional outlook on the subject matter, while providing readers with […]
• Parenting Training Classes: A Psychology Experiment The personal involvement into the researched problem is minimal, as the personal experience is a tiny part of the entire research sphere, nevertheless, it should be emphasized, that the research results will be regarded through […]
• Blocking Paradigm Experiment: Predictive or Associative Learning The testing which was done in the experiment each were tested using Super Lab Software for analysis and those who participated were presented with images of the food samples they were using on the screen […]
• “When You Shouldn’t Do What You Want to Do” by Lagattuta K. H.: Brief Description of the Experiment The emotional consequences of the inability to fulfill the desires because of the prohibition rules may be easily investigated on children, whose age peculiarities are those, that they are unable to control their desires and […]
• Endosymbiotic Experiment: Bacteria Inside Cells To confirm the answers for the self-test, click on the organelles to see the name of the organelle and its function.
• Ethics and Controlled Experiments The basic pairs of components involved in both natural and socially classical experiments include the independent and dependent variables, pre and post-testing, experimental and control groups.
• Rat Behavior and Sucrose Lab Experiment The results of the research may be helpful for the practitioners and researchers interested in applying the findings of behavioral science in medicine, psychology, and biology.
• Human Memory: Serial Learning Experiment The background of the current research was stated in Ebbinghaus’ psychological study, and reveals the fact, that if e series of accidental symbols is offered for memorizing, the human memory will be able to memorize […]
• Vital Remnants and America as an Experiment The major question stands the point whether America is an experiment; the deep understanding of the American past provides clearer imagination of modern values and the contemporary position of the country.
• Bacterial Strains Identification Experiment
• Clark and Clark Doll Experiment Revisited
• Genetic Analysis: Term Definition and Molecular Genetics Experiments
• “An Experiment in Three Approaches to Teaching Average to Elementary School Children” by D. Baker
• Perception of Objects: Attentional Capture Experiment
• Experiments in Doctoral Management Research
• Community Policing: Strategies and Experiments
• Light: Optic Laboratory Experiments
• Chinese Space Program: Innovation and Value of the Proposed Experiments
• Breaching Social Norms Experiment and Analysis
• X-Ray Fluorescence Experiment with Salt
• X-Ray Fluorescence Experiment for Salt Samples
• Experiment on Obedience: Milligram’s and Zimbardo’s Study
• Coffee Effects on Sleeping Patterns: Experiment
• Adaptation: Experiments in the Psychology
• Human Genome Sequencing and Experiments
• The Backward Bicycle Experiment
• Choice Experiment: Individual Financial Decisions
• Water Maze Experiment for Hydergine Drugs Testing
• Dictator Game Experiment and Behavioral Economics
• Nozick’s Experiment Opposing Hedonism
• Animal Experiments and Inhuman Treatment
• Global Business: Culture, Corruption, Experiments
• Stroop Experiment in Information Processing
• Group Conformity in Psychological Experiments
• The Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo
• Stanford Prison Experiment and Criminal Justice
• Osmosis in Living Organism: Germination Experiment
• False Memory and Emotions Experiment
• Eye Movement Experiment and the Theory of Mind
• E-Mail Marketing Response: Design of Experiment
• Brain-to-Brain Interface Experiment
• Clinical Statistical Experiments’ Fundamental Variables
• Deviant Action: Sociological Experiment
• The Tuskegee Experiment on Syphilis
• Ethical Reflection of Psychological Experiments
• Breaching Social Norms Experiment
• Probability: Theory and Experiment
• Neuroimaging Experiments and Memory Loss Studies
• Human Experiments and Radiation Exposure
• Concept and Importance of Life Experiments
• Tuskegee Experiment: The Infamous Syphilis Study
• Social Psychology Issues: The Stanford Prison Experiment
• Personality Experiments in Sociology
• The Parkfield Earthquake Prediction Experiment
• A Lifelong Experiment: What Made E. E. Cummings Creative
• The Hawthorne Experiment: Productivity of Employees
• A Punitive Environment Fosters Children’s Dishonesty: A Natural Experiment
• An Experiment on Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
• The Experiment to Prove the Fact That Psychological Stress Causes Headache
• Jane Elliot’s Experiment: Compare and Contrast
• Experimental Research: Design and Control
• What Are the Benefits of Choice Experiment Adaptive Design?
• How to Conduct a True Experiment?
• What Does Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment Tell Us about Human Nature?
• Where Is a True Experimental Design Used?
• What Is the Conflict of Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment?
• How to Improve the Accuracy of an Experiment?
• What Are the Top 10 Science Experiments of All Time?
• Are Quasi-Experiments Qualitative or Quantitative?
• What Are the Two Types of Experiments?
• What Is the Difference Between a Survey and an Experiment?
• What Is a Quasi-Experiment?
• How Many Types of Experiments Are There?
• Why Are Experiments Important in Psychology?
• Is a Survey a True Experiment?
• What Is the Meaning of Quasi-Experimental Design?
• How Do You Know When One Is Doing True Experimental or Quasi-Experimental Research?
• What Are “True” Experiments in Psychology?
• Why Are Hands-on Experiments Important?
• How Many Conditions Does an Experiment Have?
• What Are Some Unique Science Experiments?
• What Is the Main Difference Between Quasi-Experiments and Correlational Studies?
• Can an Observational Study Be Quasi-Experimental?
• What Are the 7 Parts of an Experiment?
• Why Is It Important to Teach Students With Science Experiments?
• What Are the 4 Types of Experimental Research?
• Archaeology Research Ideas
• Bitcoin Research Topics
• Auschwitz Research Topics
• Dictatorship Topics
• Ethical Dilemma Titles
• Free Will Paper Topics
• Genocide Essay Titles
• Neuroscience Research Ideas
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 28). 243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/experiment-essay-topics/

"243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." IvyPanda , 28 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/experiment-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 28 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/experiment-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/experiment-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "243 Experiment Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." February 28, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/experiment-essay-topics/.