By finding a hole in the current market, businesses can fill that hole with a specific product and generate large profits because there are few or no competitors. However, if a product is not thoroughly tested using experimental research, there is a good chance that all of the money that is invested in developing the product will be wasted.
The Science of Experimental Research
Much like the projects that children complete for science fairs around the country, experimental research is based on several solid scientific principles. Experimental research designs hinge on the basic principles of constants and variables. In any experiment, constants and variables must be present. Constants are the elements of the experiment that never change. By developing constants, scientists and researchers can evaluate the effects of changes to the status quo. Without constants, the cause and effect relationship would be indeterminable. Variables are the elements of experimental research that are changed or altered in order to evaluate a cause and effect relationship.
This may sound extremely complicated to an individual who is new to the process of experimental research designs. However, it is really based on common sense. Imagine an experiment that is testing the growth potential of two types of soil. One type of soil is fortified with additional nutrients while the other soil is standard. If two potted plants with two different types of soil are exposed to the same amounts of sunlight and provided with the same amounts of water yet one plant grows larger, the soil can be attributed to the growth of that plant. However, if the soil and the sunlight and the water are varied in the experimental research, the experimenter will have no way of determining which variable caused the growth difference. This shows the importance of constants and variables in experimental research.
Quasi Experimental Research for Product Testing
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to monitor all of the elements of an experiment when human beings are involved. Many businesses need to test their products on a small microcosm of a larger market before they invest millions of dollars producing the product. This type of experimental research is very important in helping businesses determine whether the cost will balance out with the generated revenue. However, controlling a large population of people is nearly impossible. In these instances, businesses use experiment models known as quasi experimental research.
In quasi experimental research, certain elements of the experiment are controlled. For example, if a product is released solely in New York City, the experiments can verify that the city has a wide variety of ethnicities, social backgrounds, education levels, genders, and cultures. By controlling which city the product is released in, the researchers can accurately estimate that the product’s success in one city would be mimicked across the entire country. However, there are elements in this experimental research that are uncontrollable. If, in New York City, a similar product was simultaneously released, the product received unusually bad press, or the city government drastically altered taxes which affected the income of New York citizens, the experiment may fail. In quasi experimental research, these variables that are outside the experimenters control are simply absorbed as unavoidable.
Types of Experimental Research Designs
In product testing, there are several different types of experimental research designs that are used to test the effectiveness, appeal, and sales estimates of various new products that businesses are planning on developing. One of these design types is often referred to as the classical design. In this type of experimental research, a test population is divided into two groups: the experimental group and the control group. The control group is not exposed to any changes in variables. In other words, they will not receive access to the new product. The variable group is exposed to experimental changes. The researches evaluate information collected before and after the experiment and compare the results. This is widely considered to be an outdated method of experimental research. And number of factors could taint the results of classical experimental research. The Factorial Design involves splitting a population into many different groups and exposing all of the groups to different variables. This provides a much more thorough collection of usable information. Other types of experimental research are continuously being developed and tested in a variety of different market types.