16 advantages and disadvantages of experimental research

Although it is one of the most widely used research methods, it also has its weaknesses.

In research, there are multiple methods to figure out the best way to describe our reality.. Experimental research is the most popular method, thanks to its high control over variables and its ability to establish cause and effect relationships.

There are many disciplines in which this method is used, being fundamental in sciences such as psychology, sociology, chemistry and pharmacy, among others.

In this article we are going to see the advantages and disadvantages of this method, describing some examples applied in the following disciplinesdescribing some examples applied in various disciplines.

• Recommended article: "Quasi-experimental research: what is it and how is it designed?"

Advantages of experimental research

Below we have summarized the advantages of experimental research.

1. Control of variables

This method makes it possible to isolate the variables to be studied and to modify them according to the objective of the study.. It is also possible to combine variables to study how they interact with each other.

Thanks to this, experimental research allows the greatest degree of control of the variables.

2. Identifying the cause-effect relationship

By studying variables in isolation, it is easy to establish the direct relationship between an action incorporated by the researcher and an action taken by the researcher. between an action incorporated by the researcher and the results obtained.

3. There are no study limits

Any subject can be approached by means of the experimental method, it is only necessary to know how to introduce it.It is only necessary to know how to introduce it in the experimental design and extract the variables to be analyzed.

4. Results can be duplicated

By having control over the variables and the context in which the experiment is conducted, the experiment can be replicated and repeated as many times as desired, can be replicated and repeated as many times as desired..

In addition, another research group can perform the same experiment following the guidelines of the original experimenter and duplicate its results.

5. Can be combined with other research methods

To ensure that the results obtained are reliable, it is beneficial to combine experimental research with other research methods.In order to ensure that the results obtained are reliable, it is beneficial to combine experimental research with other methods.

By doing this, you can compare research results and see if there are striking discrepancies.

Disadvantages

Despite all the advantages we have seen in the previous points, experimental research can also have some drawbacks and weaknesses.

1. Non-operational aspects

Love, happiness and other abstract ideas are difficult to study.. That is, unlike variables such as length, height, temperature and so on, emotions, for example, cannot be precisely measured.

2. Artificial situations

In the laboratory, situations are created according to the objective to be investigated. These situations are highly controlled and can hardly represent a real situation..

Due to this artificiality, variables that in nature always occur together may be excluded.

3. Human error

Human beings are imperfect and, although the experimentation is rigorous, it may be the case that the experimenter himself is wrong when measuring the variables..

Although human error need not be a serious event, in the most serious cases it can mean that all results must be invalidated and the study must be repeated.

4. The environment influences the participants

If the laboratory or any other place where the study is carried out presents some distracting factor or that can alter the mood of the participant, their responses will be affected.

5. The manipulation of variables may not be objective.

It is possible that, either because of researcher bias or intentionally, the results may be manipulated and interpreted, the results are manipulated and interpreted in a way that confirms the hypotheses to be verified in the study. to be verified in the study.

6. Can be time-consuming

Scientific research requires many steps. First you have to choose the object of study, then you have to find out what the variables are, then you have to develop an experimental design, and there are still a few more steps to go.

Having to go through all these phases is time-consuming. In addition, it may happen that, once the experiment has started, faults are detected that need to be corrected and data collection paused.

Obtaining participants for the sample is a lengthy process, and there is no guarantee that they will finally carry out the experiment.

7. Ethical issues

Throughout history there have been cases of experiments that have generated controversy because they have bordered on ethical violations..

For example, Nazi doctors experimented inhumanely and cruelly on concentration camp inmates, with no qualms about torturing and killing them.

Another ethical aspect to be taken into account is animal experimentation. Many environmentalists and animal rights advocates are totally opposed to the use of animals for scientific purposes, even if this may mean saving human lives, as in the case of pharmaceutical research.

8. Research does not offer a real explanation

On many occasions, experimental research is intended to answer questions related to very specific aspects of the human body.. Since a real situation is not being studied, it is not possible to obtain a precise explanation of why certain phenomena occur in nature.

It is good to know what influences a certain variable in isolation, since it facilitates prediction, however, in nature that same variable does not occur separately from the rest.

9. Extraneous variables cannot always be controlled.

Although one of the main advantages of experimental research is to achieve greater control of extraneous variables, this does not mean that they cannot be overlooked.

10. The sample may not be representative

Although this is a rare phenomenon, it is true that it may happen that the participants present significantly different characteristics compared with the population in compared to the population from which they were drawn.

For example, let us imagine that we want to study the degree to which young women are obsessed with thinness. We decide that our sample will range in age from 18 to 25 years and recruit them in our own city.

Predictably, we would find women with various concerns: some would be very concerned about their weight while others would consider it not to be a key aspect of their lives.

In our research we have had a sample composed mostly of women with obesity, a factor that clearly generates concern about weight in terms of health.

11. Groups may not be comparable

If the study compares two or more groups, it may be the case that they are not comparable for different reasons..

Let's take the following example: Let us imagine that we want to study how sports performance is influenced by the sex variable. We manage to recruit 30 men and 30 women and put them all through the same physical tests.

It turns out that all these people were already playing sports before participating in the study, with most of the women doing contemporary dance and most of the men playing soccer.

When analyzing the results of the physical tests, we see that men have more endurance and strength while women have higher levels of coordination and flexibility.

Based on this, we do not know if it was the type of sport or the sex variable that influenced the qualitative differences in sports performance.

Bibliographic references:

• Neuman, W. L., and Neuman, W. L. (2006). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• Punch, K. F. (2013). Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Sage