Use Of Quasi-experimental Design Research Articles

Unlocking SEO testing insights: Leveraging quasi-experimental designs for effective experiments

With the development of marketing's digital landscape, experimentation has become crucial for companies' business planning. Testing can now be set and delivered within seconds, making optimisations faster than ever. However, traditional models, such as A/B testing and multi-variate testing, face challenges as marketing professionals seek to expand experimentation to areas where controlled conditions cannot be met. Among these is the case of search engine optimisation (SEO) experimentation, an area that is steadily becoming a crucial element in modern marketing strategies. This paper explores the use of quasi-experimental designs to overcome these challenges, allowing for the collection of insights when traditional experimental setups are unfeasible. Examples are provided to show how quasi-experiments can be effectively applied in multiple SEO scenarios, assessing the performance of the treated pages and using correlation to generate comparable control groups. It advocates for a shift in the mindset of digital marketing professionals, stressing the importance of adaptability in experimental approaches, underscoring the necessity to embrace quasi-experimental designs in modern marketing strategies by highlighting their pivotal role in achieving data-driven insights in an increasingly complex digital world.

The Effect of Blended Learning Instruction using Simplified Science Module on Students’ Academic Performance

In the new normal set-up, one of the ideal modes of teaching and learning used in the K-12 curriculum that is engaging and motivating is blended learning instruction. This study focused on the effect of blended learning instruction using simplified science module on the academic performance of Grade 11 students of Tawi-Tawi School of Arts and Trades (TTSAT) and Tawi-Tawi School of Fisheries (TTSF). This study made use of quasi-experimental design and had two sets of research instruments: the simplified science module used in blended learning instruction and the Pre-test and Post-test Questionnaire. The result revealed that there was an increase in the level of academic performance of students in both schools with blended learning instruction using simplified science module. It also revealed that blended learning instruction using simplified science module exhibits large effect in content standards such as Stellar Formation and Origin of Elements, Atomic Concept, and Chemical Reaction while medium effect on Properties of matter and Its Chemical Structure. There is a significant difference on the level of performance from pre-test to post-test of the said students in both schools. There is no significant difference on the extent of effect of blended learning instruction using simplified science module on the academic performance of the concerned students in both schools along the four content standards. Consequently, blended learning instruction using simplified science module is an effective way of engaging and motivating students to learn in both schools. Thus, schools should encourage teachers to engage students in blended learning instruction to achieve effective and meaningful learning.

The Impact of Graduate Education on the Mental Complexity of Mid-Career Military Officers

This paper empirically explores baseline levels of mental complexity among military graduate students as defined by constructive-developmental theory, reports changes in baseline scores during their year-long enrollment in a professional graduate degree program, and, through the use of quasi-experimental design and comparison groups, examines the efficacy of developmental interventions. We used the subject-object interview with a 16-item scale for pretesting and posttesting. This study shows that professional graduate education can have a significant impact on the development of one’s self-authoring capacity. Growth rates exceeded expectations; 69% of participants increasing mental complexity by one level and half of participants changed at rates unanticipated by the previous research. Growth rates were higher for participants entering graduate school with a socialized form of mind versus a self-authoring form of mind with 88% of dominant socialized experiencing growth versus 46% of dominant self-authoring. Findings suggest that graduate education programs can accelerate developmental growth toward self-authorship.

The Effectiveness of Day Reporting Centers

The Effectiveness of Day Reporting Centers Dr. Brent Paterline, Dr. Butch Newkirk Abstract A Day Reporting Center is a community-based, highly structured, non-residential alternative to incarceration. Day Reporting Centers (DRCs) are programs that have been utilized for a variety of offender populations (e.g., pre-trial released offenders, probationers, and parolees). Most of the studies on DRCs suffer from a number of methodological deficiencies; the most prominent flaw being the lack of the use of quasi-experimental design. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of DRCs on the criminal recidivism of adult offenders by conducting a meta-analysis of DRC studies that used a quasi-experimental design. The findings show that, overall, DRCs do not differ from traditional supervision options in terms of recidivism outcomes. One the major challenges in conducting evaluative research on DRCS is that the programs themselves differ from state to state and even from county to county. Inconsistencies in program characteristics and different types of clients the program serves (e.g. probationers or parolees) limit the ability to make recommendations for best practices. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jlcj.v9n2a2

A Framework for Assessing Socio-Economic Impact of Covid-19 at Household Level

The governments across the world have adopted measures to contain the spread of virus which has resulted into restricted economic activities. While economic impacts are diverse and wide spread, the interest in examining impacts at household level is of utmost importance from policy perspectives. This helps monitoring the progress of major socio-economic indicators and make timely and appropriate policy responses. In this context, this perspective paper outlines methodology to be adopted in examining the impacts of COVID-19 in number of household level indicators based on the literatures of impact evaluation. This paper also outlines a framework for identifying key priorities areas with particular reference to Nepal. We propose standard household health production function model with a use of quasi-experimental design as a candidate to examine the impacts at the household level. Likewise, indicators pertaining to poverty, food and nutrition, education, health and labor market are of primary interest with reference to Nepal's development aspirations and trajectory. We expect that this paper will contribute in choosing suitable methodology for assessing impacts at household level and understanding the policy and data context in Nepal.

Linkages Between Air Pollution and the Health Burden From COVID-19: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed and exacerbated existing social and economic health disparities and actionable epidemiological evidence is needed to identify potential vulnerability factors to help inform targeted responses. In this commentary, methodological challenges and opportunities regarding the links between air pollution and COVID-19 are discussed with a focus on: i) the role of differential exposure to air pollution across populations and explain spatio-temporal variability of the epidemic spread and resultant mortality; ii) the indirect impacts of interventions treated as natural experiments to control COVID-19 person-to-person spread on air pollution and population health. I first discuss the potential mechanisms between exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 and the opportunity to clearly formulate causal questions of interest through the target trial framework. Then, I discuss challenges regarding the use of quasi-experimental designs that capitalize on the differential timing of COVID-19 policies including the selection of control groups and potential violations of the common shock assumption. Finally, I discuss environmental justice implications of this many-headed beast of a crisis.

THE USE OF TEXT ALOUD SOFTWARE IN TEACHING STUDENTS' PRONUNCIATION

Pronunciation is often viewed as difficult English sub-skill for EFL students in Indonesia. Many of students did not know how to respond the problem of pronunciation they have in class. Moreover, many teachers or lecturers also did not support the students’ pronunciation teaching and learning with a proper media. This situation happened in second semester students of English Department, FKIP UHAMKA Jakarta 2018/2019 Academic Year. In fact, there are plenty of technology applications that can support or assist them to practice pronunciation by their own. One of it is Text aloud Software. Thus, in this small-scale study, the researchers aim to reveal the use of Text Aloud Software as one of technology application that can help English as Foreign Language (EFL) students to mastery English pronunciation in the classroom. This study applies quantitative method with the use of quasi-experimental design and also added by close-ended questioners. The question of this research is; does Text Aloud Software help EFL students to master English pronunciation? To be able to answer the research question, this study involved 20 respondents who were selected purposively. The results showed that both data of pre-test and post-test in control class and experiment class was normally distributed and homogeny. The statistical test or t-test also showed that t observed (to = 1.68) was smaller than t table (tt = 2.02) which was 1.68 < 2.02. It can be concluded that Ho is rejected and Hi is accepted. Therefore, Text-Aloud Software is effective in helping students to master pronunciation.

Health Insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review of the Methods Used to Evaluate its Impact.

We conducted a scoping review with the objective of synthesizing available literature and mapping what designs and methods have been used to evaluate health insurance reforms in sub-Saharan Africa. We systematically searched for scientific and grey literature in English and French published between 1980 and 2017 using a combination of three key concepts: “Insurance” and “Impact evaluation” and “sub-Saharan Africa”. The search led to the inclusion of 66 articles with half of the studies pertaining to the evaluation of National Health Insurance schemes, especially the Ghanaian one, and one quarter pertaining to Community-Based Health Insurance and Mutual Health Organization schemes. Sixty-one out of the 66 studies (92%) included were quantitative studies, while only five (8%) were defined as mixed methods. Most studies included applied an observational design (n = 37; 56%), followed by a quasi-experimental (n = 27; 41%) design; only two studies (3%) applied an experimental design. The findings of our scoping review are in line with the observation emerging from prior reviews focused on content in pointing at the fact that evidence on the impact of health insurance is still relatively weak as it is derived primarily from studies relying on observational designs. Our review did identify an increase in the use of quasi-experimental designs in more recent studies, suggesting that we could observe a broadening and deepening of the evidence base on health insurance in Africa over the next few years.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s40258-019-00499-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Experimental and quasi-experimental designs in implementation research

Implementation science is focused on maximizing the adoption, appropriate use, and sustainability of effective clinical practices in real world clinical settings. Many implementation science questions can be feasibly answered by fully experimental designs, typically in the form of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Implementation-focused RCTs, however, usually differ from traditional efficacy- or effectiveness-oriented RCTs on key parameters. Other implementation science questions are more suited to quasi-experimental designs, which are intended to estimate the effect of an intervention in the absence of randomization. These designs include pre-post designs with a non-equivalent control group, interrupted time series (ITS), and stepped wedges, the last of which require all participants to receive the intervention, but in a staggered fashion. In this article we review the use of experimental designs in implementation science, including recent methodological advances for implementation studies. We also review the use of quasi-experimental designs in implementation science, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. This article is therefore meant to be a practical guide for researchers who are interested in selecting the most appropriate study design to answer relevant implementation science questions, and thereby increase the rate at which effective clinical practices are adopted, spread, and sustained.

USE OF SIM (STRATEGIC INTERVENTION MATERIAL) AS STRATEGY AND THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF GRADE 7 STUDENTS ON SELECTED TOPIC IN EARTH SCIENCE

This research endeavor aimed to find out whether the use of SIM (Strategic Intervention Material) would improve the academic achievement of grade seven students on selected topic in earth science. The study made use of quasi experimental design which is non- equivalent control group pretest and posttest design. About 120 participants were used as subjects of the study. Mean and t- tests were used as tools in the analysis of data. The result of the study revealed that there was a significant difference in the pretest and posttest mean scores of the experimental and control group in the topic eclipse. The experimental group achieved a better mean gain score than the control group. This points out that the use of strategic intervention material (SIM) in the experimental group significantly improved the performance of the students. It can be concluded that the performance of students in the experimental group was greatly enhanced after SIM was employed in teaching the lesson. Therefore, the employment of SIM was better and effective than the use of traditional method in teaching some topic in science. Furthermore, it was recommended that SIM be adopted as instructional material or strategy in teaching science lessons as well as other subjects.

The Use of Quasi-experimental Designs for Vaccine Evaluation.

Randomized, controlled trials are not always possible to evaluate interventions targeting infectious disease. This is frequently the case when evaluating the population-level impact of vaccines or when evaluating interventions aiming to increase vaccine uptake. Under such circumstances, an array of quasi-experimental designs is increasingly being used to evaluate the effects of vaccines on a wide range of morbidity and health service outcomes. These studies can provide valuable information on the impact of vaccination programs and other related interventions in real-world settings. Nevertheless, not all quasi-experimental designs are equal, and it is important that authors and readers are aware of their relative strengths and potential sources of bias. In this paper, we discuss what a quasi-experimental design is, when they might be used for vaccine evaluation, their strengths and limitations, and examples of their application.

PENGARUH THERAPEUTIC EXERCISE WALKING TERHADAP KUALITAS TIDUR KLIEN DENGAN PENYAKIT PARU OBSTRUKSI KRONIK (PPOK) DI RS TK II PUTRI HIJAU MEDAN

PPOK becomes the first rank in the group of lung diseases in Indonesia, followed by bronchial asthma, lung cancer and other lung diseases. Therapeutic exercise is an action of running regular walking with hands swayed to the rhythm of the road, this action is excellent for all age levels in order to improve the quality of sleeping. The research aims to find out the effect of therapeutic walking exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in TK II Putri Hijau Medan Hospital Medan.This research used an experimental desgin by the use of quasi experimental design through pre-test and post-test paired t-test group. The research population were 9 people, and the sampling technique used in this study is saturation sampling technique by taking the entire population as samples. There is the mean difference between pretest and posttest on sleep quality by 0.56, meaning that the average quality of sleep on posttest have a better category than the average quality of sleep on pretest, which means therapeutic exercise of walking affects quality of sleep in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with p-value of 0,013. There isa a significant effect of therapeutic exercise of walking on sleep quality. Therapeutic exercise of walking is form of therapy that is proven to improve sleep quality, therefore, is expected that patients can perform therapeutic exercise of walking guided by nurses.

Effectiveness of guidance and counselling strategies at promoting career decision making among youths in Nigeria

The paper investigated the effectiveness of guidance and counselling strategies at promoting career decision making skills among youths in Nigeria. The purpose of the study is to find out the effectiveness of group career guidance, group career counselling and group career guidance and counselling put together. The study employed the use of quasi-experimental design of pre-test and post-test of three experimental groups. Two questions were raised to guide the study and one null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significant. Research instruments were two namely, Career Development Inventory (CDI) and Group Career Guidance and Counselling Strategies (Package used for treatment). Treatment procedure took place in three different school locations where students were pre-tested and post-tested before and after treatment with Group Career Guidance (GCG), Group Career Counselling (GCC) and Group Career Guidance and Counselling (GCG+GCC). The results of the study revealed a general low career maturity and decision making skills before treatment. The study revealed improvement of the maturity and the skills after the treatment. It is thus recommended that the group career guidance should be compulsorily made to be part of secondary school curriculum in Nigeria.

Commentary: Increasing the Connectivity Between Implementation Science and Public Health: Advancing Methodology, Evidence Integration, and Sustainability.

Gaps remain between the outcomes of biomedical research and their application within clinical and community settings. The field of implementation science, also referred to as dissemination and implementation research, is intended to improve the adoption, uptake, and sustainability of evidence-based health interventions. The articles in this volume's symposium on implementation science and public health identify important directions in the effort to maximize the impact of research on public and population health. Leading researchers present reviews of the use of quasi-experimental designs in implementation science, the movement toward enhancing evidence-based public health, and intervention sustainability. Each article presents lessons learned from prior research and recommendations for the next generation of studies. Collectively, the symposium offers a road map for future implementation science that seeks to optimize public health.

The Use of Quasi-Experimental Design in Urban and Regional Policy Research and Political Economy

The Use of Quasi-Experimental Design in Urban and Regional Policy Research and Political Economy

Fostering the use of quasi-experimental designs for evaluating public health interventions: insights from an mHealth project in Malawi

The evidence base to support the growing field of mHealth is relatively nascent, with most studies lacking the level of rigor needed to inform scale up of interventions. This paper investigates the impact of a maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) mHealth project in Malawi, comparing the intention-to-treat (ITT) and the treatment on the treated (TOT) estimates, and discussing the implications for future evaluations. Services offered included a toll-free case management hotline and mobile messaging service for women and children. The evaluation methods included a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design, consisting of cross-sectional household surveys. A total of 4,230 women were interviewed in the intervention area and 2,463 in the control site. While the intervention did not have any ITT effects of the MNCH outcomes studied, there were large TOT effects. Rigorous evaluation designs can be successfully applied to mHealth pilot projects, helping to understand what works and what does not.

Commentary: On the use of quasi-experimental designs in public health evaluation.

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Améliorer les pratiques et l'organisation des soins : méthodologie des études d'interventions

Des interventions destinées à améliorer les pratiques professionnelles ou l’organisation des soins sont régulièrement mises en place dans tous les systèmes de santé. Leur efficacité sur la qualité des soins doit impérativement être évaluée avant leur généralisation. Il est possible pour cela de conduire des études d’interventions, qui doivent respecter une méthodologie rigoureuse afin de fournir des résultats d’un niveau de preuve suffisant. Cet article en décrit les principales étapes, de la formulation de la question de recherche à la rédaction de l’article, en passant par la définition de l’intervention, le choix du schéma d’étude et l’évaluation des critères de jugement. Il aborde également les aspects méthodologiques propres aux études d’interventions visant à améliorer la qualité des soins, tels que la randomisation collective ou l’utilisation de schémas dits quasi-expérimentaux. L’une des particularités de ce type d’études est que les cibles des interventions sont les professionnels de santé alors que les bénéficiaires en sont les patients. La connaissance des spécificités des études d’interventions destinées à améliorer les pratiques et l’organisation des soins est indispensable, que ce soit pour réaliser une étude de qualité, ou pour évaluer le niveau de preuve d’études publiées dans la littérature.

Youth Development Programs in Lithuania: Prevention and Positive Youth Development

The current review aims at evaluating the correspondence of prevention programs for late adolescents (15-19 years) implemented in Lithuania in 2006-2013 with PYD framework. Fifteen programs were included in the final analysis for this review. We used the criteria of positive youth development programs identified by Roth & Brooks-Gunn (2003a): program goals, activities and atmosphere. We also included measurement of program outcomes and structure of the curriculum as additional criteria. Youth development programs implemented in Lithuania contain several features consistent with PYD conception. The range of goals offered by the programs match all the 5Cs of thriving, however Lithuanian prevention programs are not aimed at promotion of Caring and Connections as much as Competence, Character and Confidence. The duration of the programs does not create the sufficient prerequisites for supportive atmosphere. Program activities are mostly oriented at providing knowledge. The effect of the programs is uncertain, because of the absence of the most important features of effective youth development programs identified in other cultural contexts. In addition, we summarized the implications of this review for future developers of youth development programs in Lithuania: PYD conception should be utilized as the theoretical basis as well as assurance of implementation quality and use of quasi-experimental design of effectiveness measurement.

Educational attainment and obesity: a systematic review

Although previous systematic reviews considered the relationship between socioeconomic status and obesity, almost 200 peer-reviewed articles have been published since the last review on that topic, and this paper focuses specifically on education, which has different implications. The authors systematically review the peer-reviewed literature from around the world considering the association between educational attainment and obesity. Databases from public health and medicine, education, psychology, economics, and other social sciences were searched, and articles published in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish were included. This paper includes 289 articles that report on 410 populations in 91 countries. The relationship between educational attainment and obesity was modified by both gender and the country's economic development level: an inverse association was more common in studies of higher-income countries and a positive association was more common in lower-income countries, with stronger social patterning among women. Relatively few studies reported on lower-income countries, controlled for a comprehensive set of potential confounding variables and/or attempted to assess causality through the use of quasi-experimental designs. Future research should address these gaps to understand if the relationship between educational attainment and obesity may be causal, thus supporting education policy as a tool for obesity prevention.