方法对比

	因果比较研究	调查研究
领域	研究设计	研究设计
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	1964	Late 19th century; methodologically systematised 1940s–1960s
提出者	Fred N. Kerlinger	Francis Galton, Charles Booth, and early social statisticians; systematised by Paul Lazarsfeld and colleagues at Columbia in the 1940s
类型	Non-experimental quantitative research design	Quantitative (and mixed) non-experimental design
开创性文献	Kerlinger, F. N. (1964). Foundations of Behavioral Research. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.	Fowler, F. J. (2014). Survey Research Methods (5th ed.). Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1452259000
别名	ex post facto research, causal-comparative design, retrospective causal study, CCR	survey methodology, questionnaire research, survey design, survey study
相关	3	4
摘要	Causal-comparative research is a non-experimental quantitative design in which the researcher compares two or more groups that already differ on an independent variable — one that was not manipulated — to investigate possible causes or consequences of that difference. Because group membership is pre-existing rather than randomly assigned, the design can suggest causal relationships but cannot establish them with the certainty of a true experiment. It is widely used in education, psychology, and social sciences when experimental manipulation is impractical or unethical.	Survey research is a quantitative (and sometimes mixed-methods) design in which a researcher collects standardised self-report data from a sample drawn from a defined population, using a questionnaire or structured interview. It is the dominant non-experimental strategy for describing population characteristics, estimating prevalence, mapping attitude distributions, and testing bivariate or multivariate associations across social, behavioural, and health sciences.