When we are talking about experiments and observational study, they are the major types of study employed in research making. But the means through which the observation is being carried out defines the major differences between the two.
As the names imply, a researcher simply draws out a conclusion after making some observations in the observational study, while on the contrary, a researcher draws out his conclusion after carrying out some experiments. Observational studies are only drawn out after collating some data, probably based on some past and present occurrences. It does not necessarily need human intervention.
On the other hand, there are various human interventions made in carrying out multiple studies just to arrive at a reasonable conclusion. Typical examples for experiments are the Hawthorne studies; whereas, a perfect example for the observational study is a means whereby you study the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.