方法对比

	Comparative Descriptive Research	因果比较研究	描述性研究
领域	研究设计	研究设计	研究设计
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	Mid-20th century, formalized in research methods texts from the 1960s onward	1964	Late 19th century; formalized in social/behavioral sciences ~1960s–1980s
提出者	Codified in educational and behavioral research methods literature; no single originator	Fred N. Kerlinger	Francis Galton, Karl Pearson (early empirical tradition); formalized in social science by Fred Kerlinger
类型	Non-experimental quantitative research design	Non-experimental quantitative research design	Non-experimental quantitative research design
开创性文献	Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 978-0078097874	Kerlinger, F. N. (1964). Foundations of Behavioral Research. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.	Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th ed.). Sage. ISBN: 978-1452226101
别名	comparative survey design, descriptive comparative study, group-comparison descriptive research, CDR	ex post facto research, causal-comparative design, retrospective causal study, CCR	descriptive study, descriptive survey design, observational descriptive research, non-experimental descriptive research
相关	3	3	3
摘要	Comparative descriptive research is a non-experimental quantitative design that systematically documents characteristics, attitudes, behaviors, or conditions across two or more naturally occurring groups, then places those descriptions side by side to identify similarities and differences. Unlike causal-comparative designs, it makes no claim about why groups differ — it rigorously answers the question 'How do these groups compare on this characteristic?' without manipulating any variable.	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.	Descriptive research is a non-experimental quantitative design that systematically documents the characteristics, frequencies, or distributions of variables in a defined population at a given point in time. It answers 'what is' questions — who, what, when, where, and how much — without manipulating variables or drawing causal conclusions. It is one of the most widely used research designs across the social, behavioral, health, and education sciences.