Assignment task:
According to Chew (2019), non-experimental research (observational), in contrast to experimental, involves data collection of the study participants in their natural or real-world environments. It is often used when researchers wish to explore events, people, or situations as they naturally occur; or test relationships and differences among variables. (Themes, 2017) An example of how this time of research can be done is survey studies because they are descriptive, exploratory, or comparative. (Themes, 2017) The researcher cannot directly control the outcomes. "For example, nurses studying cancer-related fatigue may be interested in the amount of fatigue, variations in fatigue, and patient fatigue in response to chemotherapy. The researcher would examine the factors that contribute to the variability in a patient's cancer-related fatigue experience using a nonexperimental design." (Themes, 2017)
Whereas experimental research is characterized by an intervention on a selected group of the study population in a controlled environment, and often in the presence of a similar group of the study population to act as a comparison group who receive no intervention (control group). (Chew, 2019) This type of study is used to determine the effectiveness of a new intervention. Differences between experimental research is that the independent variable is actively manipulated while it is not in nonexperimental. (Themes, 2017)