This document discusses research design and approaches. It defines research design as a blueprint for conducting a study that involves describing the approach, setting, sampling, tools, data collection, and analysis. Key aspects of research design include the research problem, purpose, ethics, resources, and validity. Internal validity can be threatened by factors like history, maturation, testing, and mortality. External validity is affected by things like the Hawthorne effect, experimental effect, pre-testing, novelty, people, place, and time. The document also lists common types of research designs.