It is very important to choose a right way to conduct a research. Different types of design have diverse advantages and disadvantages and should be selected in accordance with the purpose of the research. There are three types of qualitative design, and one of them is quasi-experimental designs. This type was used by Jaffee, Strait and Odgers (2012) in their article about the youth antisocial behavior.
But despite this rather complicated interpretation of data, the method has quite a lot of strengths. Firstly, a quasi-experimental approach is a good choice for the study of any subgroups and the factors influencing them. Returning to the specific topic of the article, the authors noted that some factors may not cause anti-social behavior, but other consequences, which in turn are already causing undesirable behavior (Jaffee, Strait & Odgers, 2012, p. 285). With all these problems, this approach helps to cope. This quasi-experimental method helps well to explore causal connection, despite all the limitations associated with the inability to take into account all influencing factors. For example, fixed effects methods help to take into account all the measured and unmeasured static characteristics. In our particular case, this method allows to eliminate from the study the genetic factor that helps to narrow the scope of the research (Jaffee, Strait & Odgers, 2012, p. 274).
Summing up, we can say that quasi-experimental type of research is quite well suited to such social issues, as the study of the antisocial behavior of the youth. The design helps to identify several groups with certain characteristics and to study them separately. The use of this approach in relation to one specific case will most accurately reveal the causal effects and to predict future developments. At the end of the article, the authors argue that a quasi-experimental approach is innovative and can be used along with other methods of research (Jaffee, Strait & Odgers, 2012, p. 287). Thus, the quasi-experimental method is quite suitable for sociological researches in identifying the causes of antisocial behavior, deviant behavior, a propensity to commit crimes and similar qualitative studies.
References
Jaffee, S., Strait, L., & Odgers, C. (2012). From correlates to causes: Can quasi-experimental studies and statistical innovations bring us closer to identifying the causes of antisocial behavior?. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 272-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026020
