TDC Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) Practice Exam

A study that implements an intervention and compares outcomes using a nonrandomized control condition is describing a quasi-experimental design. Here, participants are assigned to an experimental group that receives the new social skills program and to a non-experimental protocol for comparison, but the assignment isn’t random. The lack of randomization means groups may differ in ways other than the intervention, which can affect outcomes and needs to be considered when interpreting results.

This differs from a randomized controlled trial, where random assignment aims to balance participant characteristics across groups. It also differs from a cross-sectional design, which measures variables at a single time point without altering any conditions, and from a single-subject design, which focuses on repeated measures within one subject or a very small number of subjects rather than comparing distinct groups. In practice, quasi-experimental designs are common when randomization isn’t feasible, but they require careful attention to potential biases and threats to internal validity.