Notesale: Turn your study into money

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What may be the reason
enrolment/attendance of aschool?

behind

the

dramatic

decrease

in

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What may lie behind the sudden increase or decrease in the sale of a
particularcommodity of a particular brand?
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What may be the association or relationship between lung cancer and
cigarettesmoking or between mouth cancer and chewing of gutaka/pan
masala?

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In answering all such questions, the researchers are supposed to ask
themselves what factors seem to be associated with certain occurrences,
incidents, conditions or aspects of behavior
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For
knowing more about the meaning and nature of the term ex-post facto
research, let us try to reproduce the views of some eminent authors and
scholars in behavioural sciences research
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He
then studies the independent variable or variables in retrospect for their
possible relationship to, and effects on, the dependent variable or variables
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Landman (1988:62): The term 'ex-post facto is used to refer to an experiment
in which the researcher, rather than creating the treatment, examines the
effect of a naturally occurring treatment after it has occurred
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Spector (1993:42) suggests that ex-post facto research is a procedure that is
intended to transform a non-experimental research design into a pseudoexperimental form
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Best & Kahn (2006:133): What factors seem to be associated with certain
occurrences, outcomes, conditions or types of behaviours? Because it is often
impracticable or unethical to arrange occurrences, an analysis of the past
events or of already existing conditions may be the only feasible way to study
causation
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Cohen et al
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' In the context of social and educational research, the
phrase means 'after ty fact' or 'retrospectively and refers to those studies which
investigate possible cause-and-enter relationships by observing an existing
condition or state of affairs and searching back in my for plausible causal
factors
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CHARACTERISTICS OF EX-POST FACTO RESEARCH

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In the light of what has been said earlier and the advantages or limitations
associated with these types of studies, we can summarize the characteristics of
the ex-post facto research as follows:
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While engaging in such type of research, researchers try to look into the past to
find out what factors seem to be associated with certain occurrences, or
conditions, or aspects of behaviour relatedwith their research question
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The researchers in this type of research try to examine retrospectively the
effects ofa naturally occurring event on a subsequent outcome with a view to
establishing acausal link between them
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It cannot be included in the category of non-experimental descriptive or
normativesurvey researches (usually concerned with observing and explaining
what exists) as the researcher's task here is to investigate about what and why
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of already happenedphenomenon, condition or event, and not to describe and
interpret what is
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It resembles the quasi-experimental research because it is neither true
experimentalnor non-experimental in nature
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However, unlike
them, the researcher (i) has to examine the effect (dependent variable) that has
already occurred and (ii) for the search of the possible cause (independent
variable) he has to retrace back, i
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examine the data retrospectively for
providing proper clue/evidences in this regard
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It falls far away from the true experimental research as there is no scope for
answering the research question by selecting participants through
randomization and then go for the systematic observation of the concomitant
changes in the dependent variable (effect of an event/treatment) with an active
manipulation of the independent variable (the cause)
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(2007:266) may help much in
distinguishing ex-post facto research from the trueexperimental research both
in its nature and methodology adopted
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Experimenter uses some
method to manipulate X and then try to observe the concomitant variation in Y
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He
can assign subjects to groups randomly; or at the very least, he can assign
treatments to groups at random
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For helping
him in the achievement of control, he can use

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principle of randomization and active manipulation of X and can assume, other
things panig equal, that Y is varying as a result of the manipulation of X
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Then
a retros search for X ensues
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In this way, the weakness of the expost facto research is that the control of the independent variable is not
possible, and what is perhaps more imp neither randomization
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As named by Spector
(1993) pseudo-experimental in which a researcher tries to establish a causal
relation between the independent and dependent variables of his study without
having freedom to manipulate the independent variable or observing its effect
on his own since of these (independent and dependent variables) have already
occurred
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OF

EX-POST

FACTO

RESEARCH

IN

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NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE
BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES

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For example, in investigating about the women
rape victims, one may have to make use of all the possible sources and
methods of collecting information and evidences in the form of questionnaire,
seeking interview from the related persons including the rape victims,
documentary analysis, etc
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For example, the events and episodes related to the rape of victims,
cases of assault on the lonely elderly persons, fatal road accidcm cigarette
smoking and the resultant lung cancer are all subjects of the past
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natural catastrophes like earthquakes, disasters, train accidents
or incidents of terrorism
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for testing therelevant research hypotheses
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(iv) It may not be a wise step to duplicate the efforts already made in
implementinga particular programme/policy/innovation/training method for
arriving at the decision about its effectiveness on account of the cost involved,
time and energyspent and the interest and motivation required for the
repetition
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For
example, let us take the study of group behaviour of the agitating students,
employees or masses
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Moreover, the damage done through violent
agitation (burning and damaging of public and private property) cannot be
subjected to duplication or repetition
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In such a case, what we study is not the real
behaviour of the participants and it is unscientific to apply the findings of such
studies to natural behaviour and acts of the human beings in real set-up
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cancer; drug abuse or alcoholism of the pregnant women and the disabilities
(II) Investigation into the relationship between school achievement (open
and the existing independent variables such as socio-economic conditions,
race, sex, intelligence, family and home adjustment
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(iv)
Investigation
into
the
characteristics
of
effective/adjusted/maladjustedfactors contributing to teacher effectiveness;
gifted, creative and other with special needs, successful salesmen, managers,
players and artists
story of the organizations, institutions, and individuals
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(vi) Investigation into the reasons of increase or decrease in the sex ratio of

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the population; cases of crimes against the lonely elder persons; rape and
molestation of girls and women; divorces, marital maladjustment and
domestice conflicts; delinquency and indiscipline among the children;
backwardness and slow learning behaviour of the students; degradation of
moral values in the adolescents
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(i) causal or co-relational and (ii) causalcomparative are used by the researchers for conducting ex-post facto research
in behavioural sciences
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Causal or Co-relational Research Design

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This design aims at adopting co-relational approach (i
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finding relation and
association between the two events, factors or conditions occurring at the same
time) in investigating about the possible cause of the event already occurred,
episode or condition
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For this purpose, they first visit the scene of the crime or accident, collect the
relevant available data and then formulate some general hypotheses or
hunches for the purpose of their investigation for finding association between
the crime/accident and the factors present or the events running side by side
along with the execution of the crime or occurrence of the accident
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In this
way, in adopting co-relational approach, the research focussed on identifying
the antecedents, the things or events running side by side for create or
resulting in the present condition, happening or event
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In case the researcher finds a strong positive relationship between variables X
and Y
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But the presence of such
strong relationship does not rule out the possibility of other factors like poor
state of the roads, threatening weather conditions, mechanical defects in the
vehicle equally or partially responsible for the road accidents
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For example, take the case of finding causal relationship
between frustration and aggression or watching the violent cartoons and
aggressive behaviour of the children
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It is often the case that a researcher cannot tell which one of them is correct
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He must also try to test the presence or
absence of such association between other possible independent variables
(causes) and the dependent variable and still remain quite cautious in drawing
conclusive inferences with regard to causation of the event
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among variables, they are a useful first step in this direction in that they do
yield measures

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Causal-comparative Research Design
is design may be thought as some improvement over causal or co-relational
design used conducting ex-post facto researches in behavioural sciences in
that here a researcher triescontrol or comparison group along with the
experimental group much as employedin carrying out true experimental
studies (except for using randomization to select participant in the groups) for
establishing a causal link between the independent variable (X) a dependent
variable (Y)
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Basically, this design may be symbolically represented as given below: Group
Independent variable Dependent variable
Using this design, the investigator hypothesizes the independent variable and
then compares two groups, an experimental group (E) which has been exposed
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to the presumed independent variable X and a control or comparison group (C)
which has not
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Alternatively, the researcher may examine two groups that are different in
some way and then try to account for the difference or differences by
investigating possible antecedents (Cohen et
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, 2007:269)
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Let us illustrate the use of this design
now by taking a hypothetical study in behavioural science
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He postulates watching of violent cartoon as one of the probable causes for the
aggressive or violent behaviour of these children
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By computing correlation coefficient between the scores on the dependent and
independent variable, he reaches the conclusion that there exists a strong
association or correlation between the two ongoing events, violent cartoon
viewing and aggressive behaviour of the children
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In attempt
to reach some valid conclusion, he then resorts to a

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much advanced research design-causal-comparative design
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He calls the former group of aggressive
children as the experimental group and the matched second group as the cold
or comparison group
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In this way, where the use of causal or co-relational design may equip the
research describe and explain the type of association or co-relation existing
between independent an dependent variables, the causal-comparative goes a
step further in terms of substantiag o presence of such association and
establishing the needed causal relationship between independent and
dependent variables by creating a comparison group
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It is thus, by all means, may to be lying between the
formalities of descriptive and true experimental researches conducted in
behavioural sciences
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ex-post facto research in behavioural sciences is
conducted for investigating into the how and why of the event already occurred,
happening or condition
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The research procedure
adopted and the outcomes arrived serious weaknesses and limitations as
discussed below
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What is to be investigated in the ex-post facto research in the form of cause!

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of an event, happening or condition is a thing of the past
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) The researcher
thus has no access to the cause (independent variable) and its effect (the
dependent varible for establishing a causal relationship between them by
adopting a true experimental procedure or having on the spot survey and
observation of the ongoing phenomenon

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The collected data information may suffer from some serious
weaknesses like lack of truthfulness, biased or out of context, confusing or
outdated for arriving at the appropriate conclusion about the cause and effect
relationship
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Best and Kahn (2007:134) have described this
problem as "the post hoc fallacy", the conclusion that because two events occur
at the same time or two variables are related to each other, one must have
caused the other
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However, here he may find himself standing knowing which the
right explanation is:

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(i) Watching violent cartoons makes children aggressive
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(iv) The association between the variables is
caused by a third factor which has been considered as an independent variable
in the study
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In this situation, his task is very much confined to the
verification and description of the presence of these independent variables seen
to be running side by side with the evolution or development of the incidents,
events or conditions under study
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However, on the basis of what has been said above about the limitations,
weaknesses and fallacy observed in the ex-post facto research, it will be quite
unwise to conclude that ex-post facto studies are of little value
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The ex-post facto researches carry unique significance
as the most feasible and flexible approach to answer many of the research
questions in behavioural sciences that are difficult or rather impossible to be
answered by the usual experimental and non-experimental researches
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It gives them a sense of direction and equips them with a
fruitful sourceof hypotheses that can subsequently be tested by more rigorous
experimental methods
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There lies more than one explanation or causative factors behind the
occurrenceof an event or development of a condition
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occurred event or condition and test them one
by one forcondition and test them one by one for their possible acceptance y
should not try to seek generalization of their findings as the factors causing an
event or conditions may vary significantly in tune with the variations in
situations, locations, time and the population involved in the study
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