{"id":119232,"date":"2021-05-25T08:40:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T15:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/?p=119232"},"modified":"2023-05-24T10:24:33","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T10:24:33","slug":"what-is-an-observational-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/what-is-an-observational-study\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is An Observational Study?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An observational study is characterized by its statistical and demographic method, making it a widely used tool in sciences such as sociology and biology, especially for epidemiological research.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike other methods, the observational study is very limited, as it presents some problems to be reproduced again by other researchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An impactful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/research-design\/\">research design<\/a> allows researchers to hone in on research methods that are suitable for the subject matter and set up their studies up for success.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Types of Observational Study Practices<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-127911\" src=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Observational-study-types.jpg\" alt=\"Observational-study-types\" width=\"992\" height=\"929\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An observational study can be of different types such as :<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/cohort-study\/\">Cohort study<\/a>: This type of study is used, for example, to investigate the causes of disease occurrence and to find relationships between risk factors and health outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Case-control study: Researchers identify people with an existing health problem and a similar group without the problem. They then compare them with respect to exposure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/cross-sectional-study\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cross-sectional study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: In this type of study, researchers record information about their sample without manipulating or interfering with their environment. The most important characteristic of this method is that it allows different groups to be compared over the same period of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/longitudinal-study\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Longitudinal study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This method is similar to the observational study. However, in this method, researchers observe study subjects over a period of time that can last for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advantages of conducting an observational study<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the main advantages of conducting this type of study are the following:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It allows you to have a real and more appropriate approach to the phenomenon. This reduces the researcher&#8217;s bias.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Observational studies allow studies that cannot be carried out with other research methods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By executing this method of study, the researcher avoids problems related to ethics or difficulties presented by a large project.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disadvantages of Observational Studies<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the disadvantages of conducting this study are:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The researcher has no control over the classification of the study groups, nor can the study groups be randomly divided.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is possible to create biases or to find cause and effect relationships where they do not exist.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is difficult for the researcher to isolate the dependent variable, which can lead to misunderstandings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now know the details that distinguish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/qualitative-observation\/\">qualitative observation<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Difference between Observational and Experimental Studies<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On many occasions, researchers can only resort to observational studies to perform an in-depth analysis of certain study phenomena. In addition, it has better techniques to identify the variables.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another difference is that an observational study is always open to discussion because it always has a level of bias and has characteristics that can affect the results.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are looking to set realistic goals for your medium or large-scale business, observation is the best practice. From sales growth to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/consumer-behavior-definition\/\">customer behaviour<\/a>, all the information you collect will be relevant when setting specific objectives. At QuestionPro we can help you identify and solve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/research-problem\/\">research problems<\/a> through observational studies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"square-cta secondary-lined-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/a\/showEntry.do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>GET A FREE ACCOUNT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An observational study is characterized by its statistical and demographic method, making it a widely used tool in sciences such [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":127918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[203],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Is An Observational Study? 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