Introduction > Planning Your Research > Different Research Methods > Experimental

Experimental This is often considered to be the stereotype of research - a worker in a laboratory wearing a white coat and surrounded by brightly coloured test tubes. Experimental research, however, is better defined by the process of applying a 'treatment' to an 'experimental unit', often with the addition of a 'control' unit to ensure the treatment is responsible for any recorded effects. For example, pharmaceutical trials often involve supplying the drug (treatment) to a group of participants (experimental unit), whilst a second group of people is given a placebo (control). These types of experiments are unlikely to be conducted in a laboratory, but the process of applying the drug to the participants constitutes an experiment. Experiments are generally designed to test hypotheses and therefore may look at smaller elements of a larger process. In the above experiment, the pharmaceutical trial may not differentiate by age, gender or ethnic origin, all of which may have a bearing on the efficacy of the drug administered. Similarly, the same trial could be restricted to an experimental unit consisting only of women of UK origin who are aged between 20-24. The results obtained from experimental research are generally quantitative and are often analysed using statistical software to determine the significance of the results.  The results of these statistical tests enable us to ultimately accept or reject the null hypothesis.

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