Question

A researcher wants to evaluate to affect of using Facebook on happiness. What an experimental or observational study designed the more appropriate

Answer 1

Experimental study is where the variable or the subject whose response is to be studied is put under a treatment and then compared with themselves without the treatment or with another group without the treatment. So the researcher is making an intervention.

Where as observational study is merely done by jotting observations based on survey and then drawing the conclusions out of it. Here there is no intervention.

For evaluation of effect of use of Facebook on happiness, a more appropriate study would be experimental study.

Reason: We can gather two groups of people who are active on Facebook and then one of the groups could be blocked from assessing FB over a period of study. The results can be recorded based on the different levels of happiness (eg. Very, Normal, Not that happy, etc). Here the before and after effects can be studied appropriately and the reasons will be discovered as to why there was a change or no change in the levels.

If we conduct an observational study , there will be mere observations which would not be very helpful to compare and obtain conclusions. Eg. If a group who has never had access to FB would not be able to tell if he / she is happier with using FB than without.