experimental design
Controlled study structure
Experimental design is the planning of experiments to ensure valid, reliable results.
It involves decisions about variables, controls, sample sizes, and randomization—structuring how data will be collected to answer a research question while minimizing bias and confounding factors.
Good experimental design allows researchers to draw causal conclusions: The experimental design included a placebo group and double-blinding.
Testable proposed explanation
- protocolPrescribed conduct rules
- randomizationIntroducing chance systematically
- blindingPainfully intense light
- replicationAct of duplicating precisely
pilot study · control group · placebo · sample size · validity · reliability · counterbalancing · double-blind
Untreated subjects for comparison
Collected numerical information
- t-testHypothesis check for averages
- ANOVACompares means among groups
- chi-squareStatistic for categorical data
- regressionReturn to former state
p-value · significance · correlation · standard deviation · confidence interval · sample size · outliers · normal distribution
Factor deliberately manipulated
- dependent variableOutcome being measured
- confounding variableUnmeasured cause affecting outcomes
- covariateVariable controlled in analysis
- moderatorOne who presates proceedings
mediator · categorical · continuous · binary · nominal · ordinal · levels · manipulation
First functional specimen
- pilotOne who steers aircraft
- proof-of-conceptFeasibility demonstration
- blue-sky researchInquiry without practical aim
- feasibility studyAssessment of project practicality
hypothesis
Testable proposed explanation
- protocolPrescribed conduct rules
- randomizationIntroducing chance systematically
- blindingPainfully intense light
replication · pilot study · control group · placebo · sample size · validity · reliability · counterbalancing · double-blind · single-blind
control group
Untreated subjects for comparison
statistics
Collected numerical information
- t-testHypothesis check for averages
- ANOVACompares means among groups
- chi-squareStatistic for categorical data
regression · p-value · significance · correlation · standard deviation · confidence interval · sample size · outliers · normal distribution · variance
independent variable
Factor deliberately manipulated
- dependent variableOutcome being measured
- confounding variableUnmeasured cause affecting outcomes
- covariateVariable controlled in analysis
moderator · mediator · categorical · continuous · binary · nominal · ordinal · levels · manipulation · measurement
prototype
First functional specimen
- pilotOne who steers aircraft
- proof-of-conceptFeasibility demonstration
- blue-sky researchInquiry without practical aim
- researchstudy, research papers, researching, archive, peer review
- research methodshypothesis, deduction, induction, scientific method, research methods
- scientific methodtheory, data, hypothesis, observation, prediction
- avant-garde architecturedeconstructivism, brutalism, futurism, geodesic domes, megastructures
- statistics coursesprobability, biostatistics, econometrics, hypothesis testing, time series
- dimensionality reductionPCA, eigenvalues, eigenvector, loading, component
experimental designcase study
Researched particular instance
survey research · field observation · field study · ethnography
design, designer, experiment, redesign, experimental, experiments, experimented, experimenting, experimentation