research methods
type: Concept
narrower: natural experiments

statistics and research methods
type: Concept
narrower: natural experiments

epidemiological concepts
type: Concept
narrower: natural experiments

methods
type: Collection
type: ConceptGroup
member: natural experiments

natural experiments
type: Concept
definition: Natural experiments are designs that occur in nature and permit a test of an otherwise untestable hypothesis and thereby provide leverage to disentangle variables or processes that would otherwise be inherently confounded. Experiments in nature do not, by definition, have the sort of leverage that traditional experiments have because they were not manufactured to precise methodological detail; they are fortuitous. [Source: Encyclopedia of Research Design; Natural Experiments]
broader: statistics and research methods
broader: research methods
broader: epidemiological concepts