Evaluation research can involve any of a number of research designs, including experimental and quasi-experimental designs.

One of the following scenarios is an example of an experimental design, whereas the other is an example of a quasi-experimental design.

Scenario 1

Hannah is comparing six relatively similar school campuses on the number of bullying incidences. Three of the campuses were randomly chosen to participate in an anti-bullying campaign, whereas the other three were not.

Scenario 2

Eric is evaluating a carpool program implemented in a downtown area. He has found two similar downtown areas that did not implement the program in order to compare parking space purchases across all three.

(Scenario 1 / Scenario 2)is an example of a quasi-experimental design because (it involves random assignment / it lacks random assignment / it involves two control groups).

Within the category of quasi-experimental designs, there is again the option to use a number of different approaches to evaluation. It is February, and Patrick has just finished a recycling campaign on a college campus (Campus A). He is evaluating the success of the program by measuring the pounds of trash collected on campus. The following graphs represent findings from two differing quasi-experimental designs he could use to evaluate the success of this program.

Pounds of trash 1000 Graph 1 Campus A May Jun. Time (Months) Pounds of trash 1000 May Jun. Time (Months) Graph 2