Comparer des méthodes

	Recherche explicative	Recherche confirmatrice
Domaine	Conception de la recherche	Conception de la recherche
Famille	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Année d'origine	1960s–1980s (codified in behavioral and social science methodology)	1934 (Popper); widely adopted in social sciences from 1960s onward
Auteur d'origine	Formalized by Earl Babbie and Fred Kerlinger among others	Karl Popper (falsificationism); formalized in behavioral sciences by Paul Meehl and others
Type	Non-experimental quantitative research design	Quantitative research design
Source fondatrice	Kerlinger, F. N. (1986). Foundations of Behavioral Research (3rd ed.). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. ISBN: 978-0030417559	Popper, K. R. (1959). The Logic of Scientific Discovery. Hutchinson. ISBN: 978-0415278447
Alias	analytical research, causal research, explanatory study, explanatory quantitative research	hypothesis-testing research, deductive research, theory-testing research, confirmatory study
Apparentées	5	4
Résumé	Explanatory research is a non-experimental quantitative research design that goes beyond describing a phenomenon to identifying why it occurs — examining the relationships or mechanisms that account for observed patterns. Rooted in positivist social science methodology, it uses theory-driven hypotheses and statistical analysis to test whether specific variables explain variation in an outcome, without necessarily manipulating those variables.	Confirmatory research is a deductive quantitative design in which the researcher specifies hypotheses derived from existing theory before data collection, then tests whether the data support or refute those hypotheses. Unlike exploratory approaches that generate ideas from data, confirmatory research begins with an established theoretical framework, pre-registers predictions, and applies statistical tests to evaluate those predictions against empirical evidence. It is the backbone of hypothesis-driven social, behavioral, and health science inquiry.