Chapter 6

Research Design

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Research Design

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this Chapter, students are
expected to demonstrate competence in
their capability to independently develop
research design.

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Research Design

• Research designs are plans and the procedures for

research that span the decisions from broad
assumptions to detailed methods of data collection
and analysis.(Cresswell,2009)

• “A research design is the arrangement of

conditions for collection and analysis of data in a
manner that aims to combine relevance to the
research purpose with economy in procedure.”

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Research Design

• A research design is a framework for conducting the

research project.

• It specifies the details of the procedures necessary

for obtaining the information needed to structure
and /or solve research problems.

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Research Design
More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect
of:
• What is the study about?
• Why is the study being made?
• Where will the study be carried out?
• What type of data is required?
• Where can the required data be found?
• What periods of time will the study include?
• What will be the sample design?
• What techniques of data collection will be used?
• How will the data be analyzed?
• In what style will the report be prepared?

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Research Design
The overall research design can be splitted into the
following parts:
i)the sampling design which deals with the method of
selecting items to be observed for the given study;

ii)the observational design which relates to the conditions

under which the observations are to be made;

iii)the statistical design which concerns with the question

of how many items are to be observed and how the
information and data gathered are to be analyzed; and

iv)the operational design which deals with the techniques

by which the procedures specified in the sampling,
statistical and observational designs can be carried out.
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Research Design
• From what has been stated above, we can state the
important features of a research design as under:
• It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of
information relevant to the research problem.

• It is a strategy specifying which approach will be

used for gathering and analyzing the data.

• It also includes the time and cost budgets since

most studies are done under these two constraints.

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 Research Design
• In brief, research design must, at least, contain:
• a clear statement of the research problem;

• procedures and techniques to be used for

gathering information;

• the population to be studied; and

• Methods to be used in processing and

analyzing data.

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Research Design
• Research design stands for advance planning
of the methods to be adopted for collecting
the relevant data and the techniques to be
used in their analysis, keeping in view the
objective of the research and the availability
of staff, time and money.

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Research Design
Research Design versus Research Method
• Research design is different from the
method by which data are collected.

• Many research methods texts confuse

research designs with methods.

• It is not uncommon to see research design

treated as a mode of data collection rather
than as a logical structure of the inquiry.

• Failing, to distinguish between design and

method, leads to poor evaluation of designs.
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Research Design
Important Concepts Relating to Research
Design:
• Dependent and independent variables
• Extraneous Variable
• Control
• Confounded relationship
• Research hypothesis:
• Experimental and non-experimental hypothesis-testing
research
• Experimental and control groups
• Treatments:
• Experimental unit(s):

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Research Design
Research Design Approaches
There are different dimensions based on which research
design is selected.
These are:
Purpose of the Inquiry
• The research design reflects the purpose of the inquiry,
which can be characterized as one or more of the following:
1) Exploration
2) Description
3) Explanation
4) Prediction
5) Evaluation
6) History
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Research Design
1) Exploratory Study
• This is the most useful (and appropriate)
research design for those projects that are
addressing a subject about which there are
high levels of uncertainty and ignorance about
the subject, and when the problem is not very
well understood (i.e. very little existing
research on the subject matter).
• Such a research design is usually characterized
by a high degree of flexibility and lacks a formal
structure.

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Research Design
2) Descriptive Study
• The main aim of descriptive research is to
provide an accurate and valid
representation of (encapsulate) the factors
or variables that pertain / are relevant to
the research question.
• Such research is more structured than
exploratory research.
• Although some people dismiss descriptive
research as `mere description’, good
description is fundamental to the research
enterprise and it has added immeasurably
to our knowledge of the shape and nature
of our society.
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Research Design
3)Explanatory Study
• It is sometime referred to as analytical study.
• The main aim of explanatory research is to
identify any causal links between the factors or
variables that pertain to the research problem.
• Such research is also very structured in nature.
• Explanatory research focuses on why questions.
• For Example,
• It is one thing to describe the crime rate in
a country, to examine trends over time or
to compare the rates in different countries

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Research Design
4)Prediction, Correlation and Causation
• People often confuse correlation with causation.
• Simply because one event follows another, or two
factors co-vary, does not mean that one causes the
other.
• The link between two events may be coincidental
rather than causal.
• As the divorce rate changed over the twentieth century
the crime rate increased a few years later.
• But this does not mean that divorce causes crime.
• Rather than divorce causing crime, divorce and crime
rates might both be due to other social processes such
as secularization, greater individualism or poverty.

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 Comparison of Different Research Questions
Question type Question Examples

Exploratory Questions What is the case? What are the critical success factors of a
What are the key factors? profitable company?
What are the distinguishing features of a good
leader?
What are the reasons for the carnage on
South African roads?

Descriptive Questions How many? What is the incidence of x? How many people died of AIDS in South Africa
Are x and y related? last year?
Is there a correlation between parental
support and scholastic achievement?

Causal Questions Why? What are the main causes of malnutrition in a

What are the causes of y? rural community?
Is smoking the main cause of lung cancer

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 Research Design
Evaluative Questions What was the outcome of x? Has the new TB awareness
Has P been successful? programme produced a decline in
reportable TB cases?
Has the introduction of a new
refrigeration technology led to
more cost-effective production?

Predictive Questions What will the effect of x be on y? What effect will the introduction
of a new antibiotic have on
population P?

Historical Questions What led to y happening? What caused the demise of

What were the events that led up socialism in Central Europe
to y? during the late eighties?
What caused y? What led NATO countries to
decide to start aerial bombing of
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Kosovo?
Research Design
Research Designs in Terms of the Controlling Method
• Depending on the controlling method of the
research design, research designs are categorized
into three types:
i) Experimental design;
ii) Quasi-experimental design and
iii) Non-experimental or Observational design.

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Research Design
i) Experimental Design
• In experimental design, researchers plan to
measure the response variable depending on the
explanatory variable.
• The response variable is an outcome measure for
predicting or forecasting purposes of a study.
• It is also called dependent variable or predicted
variable.
• Any variable that explains the response variable is
called explanatory variable.
• It is also called independent variable or predictor
variable.
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Research Design
ii) Quasi-experimental Design
• Although the researcher plans to measure the
response variable depending on the explanatory
variable, there is a lack of randomization in the
quasi-experimental design.
• It is a mixed design where random and non-
random experiments are employed together.
• For Example,
• Fluoride may be found in tap water in certain
geographic areas but not in others.
• The effects on dental decay can be
investigated using many methods and a
common approach here is to use a quasi-
experimental design.
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Research Design
iii) Observational Design
• The observational study may be
either of prospective or retrospective
design.
• If the researcher begins to observe,
waiting for the results, it is a
prospective design.
• If he/she gathers data at one time and
traces the differences into the past, it
is a retrospective design.
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Research Design
Based On Type Of Data
Based on the type of data research can be
designed as :
1) Quantitative,
2) Qualitative And
3) Mixed Research

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 Research Design
1) Qualitative Research
• QR is a means for exploring and understanding the
meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human
problem.
• The process of research involves emerging questions and
procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s
setting, data analysis inductively building from particulars
to general themes, and the researcher making interpretations
of the meaning of the data.
• The final written report has a flexible structure.
• Those who engage in this form of inquiry support a way of
looking at research that honors an inductive style, a focus
on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering
the complexity of a situation(adapted from Creswell,
2007).
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Research Design
2) Quantitative Research
• Quantitative research is a means for testing objective
theories by examining the relationship among variables.
• These variables, in turn, can be measured, typically on
instruments, so that numbered data can be analyzed
using statistical procedures.
• The final written report has a set of structure consisting
of introduction, literature and theory, methods, results,
and discussion (Creswell, 2008).
• Like qualitative researchers, those who engage in this
form of inquiry have assumptions about testing theories
deductively, building in protections against bias,
controlling for alternative explanations, and being able
to generalize and replicate the findings.

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Research Design
3) Mixed Methods Research
• Mixed method research is an approach to inquiry that
combines or associates both qualitative and quantitative
forms.
• It involves philosophical assumptions, the use of
qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the
mixing of both approaches in a study.
• Thus, it is more than simply collecting and
analyzing both kinds of data; it also involves the use
of both approaches in tandem so that the overall
strength of a study is greater than either
qualitative or quantitative research (Creswell &
PlanoClark, 2007).
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Research Design
Features of a Good Research Design
• A good design is often characterized by adjectives like
flexible, appropriate, efficient, and economical and so
on.
• Generally, the design which minimizes bias and
maximizes the reliability of the data collected and
analyzed is considered a good design.
• The design which gives the smallest experimental error
is supposed to be the best design in many
investigations.
• Similarly, a design which yields maximal information
and provides an opportunity for considering many
different aspects of a problem.
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Research Design

• A research design appropriate for a particular

research problem, usually involves the consideration
of the following factors:
• the means of obtaining information;
• the availability and skills of the researcher and his staff,
if any;
• the objective of the problem to be studied;
• the nature of the problem to be studied; and
• the availability of time and money for the research
work.
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END OF CHAPTER 6

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