Which of the following is a primary advantage of conducting observational studies?

Conducting observational studies presents several advantages, and one of the most significant is related to cost. Observational studies often incur lower expenses compared to randomized controlled trials because they typically do not require complex protocols like randomization, blinding, or extensive follow-up processes. Instead, these studies can make use of existing data and can often be conducted in natural settings, avoiding the costs associated with controlled environments and interventions.

In addition to being less expensive, observational studies can be more feasible in situations where randomization is impractical or unethical. For instance, researchers may want to study the effects of smoking on health; randomizing individuals to smoke or not would be unethical, making observational studies the only viable option.

Thus, while observational studies have limitations—such as the inability to control all confounding variables or to provide definitive cause-and-effect conclusions—they are a valuable tool for generating hypotheses and understanding associations in real-world contexts where randomized trials may not be feasible.