Management and Organizational Studies 3420F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Spurious Relationship, Causal Inference, Design Of Experiments

• School: Western University
• Department: Management and Organizational Studies
• Course: Management and Organizational Studies 3420F/G
• Professor: Bonnie Simpson

Document Summary

Chapter 10: primary data collection- experimentation and test marketing. A research approach in which one variable is manipulated and the effect on another variable is observed. Can include multiple independent and dependent variables, as well as intervening variables. The research design: experimental (causal) vs. descriptive studies. Key principle of experimental research is the manipulation of treatment variable (x), followed by observation of response variable (y) Descriptive studies: can show 2 or more variables are related/associated, not enough to establish a causal inference! Causal studies= experimental: properly-designed experiment controls" for other (extraneous) variables, only type of research that has potential to demonstrate that a change in one variable causes change in another variable. Three necessary characteristics: appropriate time order of occurrence, concomitant variation (statistical correlation, elimination of other possible causal factors, spurious correlation, need for theory. To demonstrate the a b, one must show that a occurred before b.