Ex post facto research

Introduction
When translated literally, ex post facto means ‘from what is done afterwards’. In the context of
social and educational research the phrase means ‘after the fact’ or ‘retrospectively’ and refers to those
studies which investigate possible cause-and-effect relationships by observing an existing condition or state
of affairs and searching back in time for plausible causal factors. In effect, researchers ask themselves
what factors seem to be associated with certain occurrences, or conditions, or aspects of behaviour. Ex
post facto research, then, is a method of teasing out possible antecedents of events that have happened
and cannot, therefore, be engineered or manipulated by the investigator. The following example will
illustrate the basic idea. Imagine a situation in which there has been a dramatic increase in the number of
fatal road accidents in a particular locality. An expert is called in to investigate. Naturally, there is no way in
which she can study the actual accidents because they have happened; nor can she turn to technology for
a video replay of the incidents. What she can do, however, is attempt a reconstruction by studying the
statistics, examining the accident spots, and taking note of the statements given by victims and witnesses.
In this way the expert will be in a position to identify possible determinants of the accidents. These may
include excessive speed, poor road conditions, careless driving, frustration, inefficient vehicles, the effects
of drugs or alcohol and so on. On the basis of her examination, she can formulate hypotheses as to the
likely causes and submit them to the appropriate authority in the form of recommendations. These may
include improving road conditions, or lowering the speed limit, or increasing police surveillance, for
instance. The point of interest to us is that in identifying the causes retrospectively, the expert adopts an
ex post facto perspective.

Kerlinger (1970) has defined ex post facto research more formally as that in which the independent
variable or variables have already occurred and in which the researcher starts with the observation of a
dependent variable or variables. She then studies the independent variable or variables in retrospect for
their possible relationship to, and effects on, the dependent variable or variables. The researcher is thus
examining retrospectively the effects of a naturally occurring event on a subsequent outcome with a view
to establishing a causal link between them. Interestingly, some instances of ex post facto designs
correspond to experimental research in reverse, for instead of taking groups that are equivalent and
subjecting them to different treatments so as to bring about differences in the dependent variables to be
measured, an ex post facto experiment begins with groups that are already different in some respect and
searches in retrospect for the factor that brought about the difference. Indeed Spector (1993:42) suggests
that ex post facto research is a procedure that is intended to transform a non-experimental research design
into a pseudo-experimental form.

Two kinds of design may be identified in ex post facto research—the co-relational study and the criterion
group study. The former is sometimes termed ‘causal research’ and the latter, ‘causal-comparative
research’. A co-relational

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com

Publication Information: Book Title: Research Methods in Education. Contributors: Louis Cohen - author, Lawrence Manion -
author, Keith Morrison - author. Publisher: Routledge Falmer. Place of Publication: London. Publication Year: 2000. Page
Number: 205.

Ex Post Facto Research Method

"Ex post facto means formulated, enacted, or operating retroactively. When translated literally, ex post
facto means from what is done afterwards. In social and educational research, the phrase means: after
the fact. Ex post facto research method refers to those studies which investigate possible cause-and-
effect relationships by observing an existing condition or state of affairs and looking back in time for valid
causal factors. The ex post facto research method is a method of one using statistics and alternative
ways to figure out an event. One would not be able to study actual events because they have already
happened. Go to http://www.questiaschool.com/read/103778525?title=11%3A%20Ex%20Post%20Facto
%20Research for further detailed information."
Ex Post Facto
(Causal-

Comparative)
Research

• Explores possible causes and effects

• The independent variable is not manipulated,
it has already been applied
• Focuses first on the effect, then attempts to
determine what caused the observed effect.
Characteristics
of Ex Post
Facto
Research

• There is a control or comparison group

• Intact groups are used
• The treatment is not manipulated, it
has already occurred.
EX POST FACTO - Term used to designate action taken to change the
effect given to a set of circumstances. This action relates back to a prior
time and places this new effect upon the same set of circumstances
existing at that time.