How do descriptive studies differ from experimental studies?

Descriptive studies focus on observing and describing the characteristics of a population or phenomenon without manipulating any variables. This is crucial because the primary aim of these studies is to gather information and provide a detailed account of the subject matter, rather than to test a hypothesis or explore cause-and-effect relationships as experimental studies do.

In contrast, experimental studies involve the manipulation of one or more independent variables and typically include a control group to establish a comparison. This helps researchers understand the impact of the intervention being tested. However, descriptive studies do not have this structure and hence do not involve any intervention or experimental manipulation.

The other choices highlight aspects that typically pertain to experimental designs, such as the need for a control group or random sampling, but they do not clarify the core distinction of the absence of intervention in descriptive studies.