Quasi‐Experiments
Title
Quasi‐Experiments
Author
Reichardt, Charles S.
Research Area
Methods of Research
Topic
Research Methods ‐ Quantitative
Abstract
Quasi‐experiments are research designs used to estimate treatment effects when treatments are not assigned at random. Research in quasi‐experimentation will advance on four fronts. First, researchers will elaborate the complete array of quasi‐experimental comparisons. Second, researchers will refine statistical methods for taking account of initial selection differences. Third, researchers will both improve sensitivity analyses to take account of biases and create empirically based theories of the degree to which biases are removed. And fourth, researchers will assess how well quasi‐experiments address the full panoply of complications that arise in practice.