Identify Three Basic Research Designs and Outline Their Relative Strengths

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Examlex · Accepted Answer

The Answer is (1) Case study: an in-depth examination or observation of a single individual. Provides a rich source of information that can be useful for studying novel, unusual, or complex behaviours in real-life contexts, but there is rarely any way to verify scientifically whether suppositions regarding the causes of someone's behaviour are correct and the extent to which they explain the behaviour of other offenders.
(2) Longitudinal research design: a research design that involves making several observations of the same study participants over a period of time. Tends to be expensive and time-consuming.
(3) Classic experimental design: a design using random assignment of study participants, an experimental group, and a control group. Permits causal inferences, but trying to control extraneous factors is difficult.

Identify Three Basic Research Designs and Outline Their Relative Strengths

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