Establishing Causation (Case Study Sample)

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Establishing Causation
Dr. Jones' study is not an experimental research strategy because he did not manipulate the independent variable to observe the changes in the dependent variable. An experimental research strategy focuses on establishing causal links by observing whether a change in an independent variable would change a dependent variable (Saunders et al. 142). Experiments, therefore, help answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. In Dr. Jones' study, the independent variable was the amount of sugar in a child's diet, and the dependent variable was the child's activity level. Given that Dr. Jones did not manipulate the amount of sugar in the participants’ diet, his study does not qualify as experimental.
In addition, in the experimental research strategy, the researcher uses two groups will similar aspects relevant to the research. The researcher then randomly assigns participants to the two groups. The first group is the experimental group which undergoes manipulation or planned intervention. On the other hand, the second group is the control group, which is not subjected to manipulation or intervention (Saunders et al. 142). The researcher measures the dependent variable before and after manipulating the independent variable for both groups. Therefore, any notable differences between the experimental and control groups based on the dependent variable are linked to the manipulation.
Dr. Jones' study