After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• State the definition of nonexperimental quantitative research.
• List categorical and quantitative independent variables that cannot be manipulated by a researcher.
• Evaluate evidence for cause and effect using the three required conditions for cause-and-effect relationships.
• Explain the “third-variable problem.”
• List and briefly describe the three major techniques of control that are used in nonexperimental research.
• Compare and contrast crosssectional research, longitudinal research, and retrospective research.
• Compare and contrast the two types of longitudinal research.
• Identify descriptive research studies, predictive research studies, and explanatory research studies when examining published research.
• Explain the difference between a direct effect and an indirect effect in causal modeling.
• Draw the typology of nonexperimental quantitative research formed by crossing the time dimension with the research objective dimension.