The document discusses key aspects of research design including the purpose of a study, whether it is exploratory, descriptive, or testing hypotheses. It explains that exploratory studies are used when little is known about a situation while descriptive studies aim to profile and describe variables of interest. Hypothesis testing studies examine relationships between variables or differences among groups. The document also discusses whether a causal or correlational research design is most appropriate based on the goal of establishing cause-and-effect relationships or identifying factors associated with the problem.