what is non-experimental research
Lesson Summary. Non-experimental research does not mean nonscientific. Non-experimental research means there is a predictor variable or group of subjects that cannot be manipulated by the experimenter. Typically, this means that other routes must be used to draw conclusions, such as correlation, survey or case study.
One major limitation of experimental research is that studies are typically conducted in contrived or artificial laboratory settings. Results may not generalize or extrapolate to external settings. Two exceptions to this rule are natural experiments and field experiments.