This document provides an overview of different types of research designs, including quantitative, qualitative, experimental, correlational, and survey designs. For experimental design, it discusses concepts like independent and dependent variables, experimental and control groups, and how random assignment is used. For correlational design, it explains how this design examines relationships between variables without manipulation or group assignment. Survey design is described as collecting data through questionnaires or interviews to describe characteristics of a population.

1. Research Types
Prepared by: Mariam Bedraoui
Research Types

2. What do you
expect to get out
of our work on
this topic?
Research Types

3. Research Types

4. Outline
I. What is Research?
1. Definition
2. Features
3. Purposes
II. What are Research Types?
1. Quantitative and Qualitative Research
2. Research Designs
i. The Experimental Research Design
ii. The Correlational Research Design
iii. The Survey Research Design
iv. The ethnographic Research design
v. The Case Study Research Design
Research Types

5. I. What is Research?
Research Types
1. Definition

6. I. What is Research?
Research Types
1. Definition

7. I. What is Research?
Research Types
1. Definition
 “Research is a way of finding out answers to questions.”
(Mackey & Gass: 2005, 1)
 “Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze
information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue.”
(Creswell: 2012, 3)
 “Research is an art of scientific investigation.”
(Khotari: 2004:1)
 “Research contributes to a body of science and follows the scientific
method.”
(Bhattacherjee: 2012, 1)
 [Research is applying a scientific method to investigate a problem or
phenomenon with the aim of finding an appropriate solution.]

8. I. What is Research?
Research Types
1. Definition
A scientific Method?
•Scientific method refers to a
standardized set of techniques for
building scientific knowledge, such
as
•how to make valid observations,
•how to interpret results,
•and how to generalize those results.
(Bhattacherjee: 2012,
5)

9. I. What is Research
 Using a “scientific method”,
researchers
• identify the problem that define the goal of
the research;
• make a prediction, that if confirmed,
resolves the problem;
• gather data relevant to this prediction;
• analyse and interpret the data to see if it
supports the prediction and resolves the
question that initiated the research.
(Creswell: 2012,
3)
A scientific Method?
1.
Definition
Research Types

10. I. What is Research
1. Definition
Research Types
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative
and qualitative research.

11. What is Research?
Precision
Theoretical concepts must
be defined with such
precision that others can
use those definitions to
test the research results.
Replicability
Others should be able to
independently repeat a
scientific study and obtain
similar results.
Falsifiability
A theory must be stated in
a way that can be
disproven.
Parsimony
A solid theory is the one
which tries to explain a
specific part of a
phenomenon making use
of a few variables.
2. Features
Research Types

12. I. What is Research?
knowledge Practice Policy
3. Purposes
Research Types

13. I. What is Research?
 Research adds to our knowledge by
 addressing gaps in our knowledge;
 providing additional results to confirm or disconfirm the
findings of previous research;
 offering findings about people and social phenomena that
have never been submitted to study.
3. Purposes
Research Types

14. I. What is Research?
 Research improves practice by:
 suggesting evidence-based ways for conducting our
professions.
 helping educators become more effective professionals.
 allowing educators to share their best practices.
 maximising the learners’ educational gains.
3. Purposes
Research Types

15. I. What is Research?
 Research informs policy-makers about:
 the constraints attendant on educators and learners;
 the potentials of educators and learners to be exploited;
 the impacts of their decisions and measures;
 new paths of change.
3. Purposes
Research Types

16. Part Two: Research Types
Research Types

17. II. Research Types
Different parameters can be used to distinguish
between research types:
Type of Data:
qualitativequantitative
Nature of knowledge:
Positivist/ interpretive
Reasoning Methods:
Inductive/ deductive
Research Design:
Experimental
research/ survey/ case
study/ ethnography,
etc.
Research Types

18. II. Research Types
Quantitative research “involves the generation of data in
quantitative form which can be subjected to rigorous
quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid way.” Mackey
& Gass (2005: 5)
Examples of research questions that can yield
quantitative data:
 How does the number of times a teacher replays an audio-
track influence the scores of students in a listening test?
 What is the relation between students’ language proficiency
and their understanding of implicature-laden texts.
 What is the relation between students’ vocabulary load and
their performance in writing tests?
1. Type of
data
Quantitative research
Research Types

19. II. Research Types
 “The Quantitative research follows the
confirmatory scientific method because it
focuses on hypothesis testing. Quantitative
researchers consider it to be of primary
importance to state one’ s hypothesis and
then test this hypothesis with empirical data
to see if it is supported.”
Creswell (2012: 34)
Quantitative research
1. Type of
data
Research Types

20. II. Research Types
ASSUMPTION POSITIVIST PARADIGM
Ontologic (What is the nature of
reality?)
Reality exists; there is a real world
driven by real natural causes.
Epistemologic (How is the inquirer
related to those being researched?)
The inquirer is independent from
those being researched; findings are
not influenced by the researcher.
Axiologic (What is the role of values
in the inquiry?)
Values and biases are to be held in
check; objectivity is sought.
Methodologic (How is knowledge
obtained?)
Deductive processes / Emphasis on
discrete, specific concepts/ Fixed
design/ emphasis on measured,
quantitative information; statistical
analysis/ Seeks generalizations.
(Polit & Beck, 2003)
1. Type of
data

21. II. Research Types
• In quantitative data collection, a researcher uses an
instrument to measure the variables in the study.
• A research instrument is a tool for observing,
measuring, or documenting quantitative data.
• Examples of instruments are
• survey questionnaires,
• tests,
• checklists used to observe a student’s or teacher’s
behaviors.
1. Type of
Data
Quantitative Research
Research Types

22. II. Research Types
A problem to investigate?
Most Moroccan students do not score well in the
writing part of the standardized national test. This is a
multi-dimensional problem that needs investigation
from different perspectives:
 Teachers’ practices/ attitudes
 Students’ language proficiency/ learning styles/
strategies.
 Type of materials used.
 The amount of writing lessons scheduled in the
syllabus
Type of
Data
Research Types

23. Research Types
Research question:
do intensive activities in
the pre-writing stage help
second year Bac. level
students improve their
performance in writing?
Design
 Use of an experimental
design.
 Collection of quantitative
data.
 Instruments: number of
activities, students’
scores in tests.
1. Type of
Data
Research Types

24. II. Research Types
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an interpretive,
naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative
researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make
sense
of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to
them.
Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety
of
empirical materials—personal experience, introspective, life
story, interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual
texts—
that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings in
individuals’ lives.
(Denzin & Lincoln cited in Anderson & Arsenault: 1998, 127)
1. Type of
Data
Research Types

25. II. Research Types
 A fundamental assumption is that a profound understanding of the world can be
gained through conversation and observation in natural settings rather than through
experimental manipulation under artificial conditions.
 The aim of qualitative research is to explore phenomena through first-hand
experience and present a structured attempt at understanding how people derive
meaning from their surroundings and how their meanings shape their behaviours.
:
 No prior knowledge about a phenomenon.
 A need for an initial exploration of recurrent patterns and concepts in a research
area.
 Study design is iterative: concepts and data collection methods can be adjusted as
the research progresses.
1. Type of
Data
Research Types
Qualitative Research

26. II. Research Types
Qualitative research
 In Qualitative research, data is collected in the form of words by
conducting:
• Observation
• Field notes
• Video and tape recording
• Focus group discussions
• Semi-structured and in-depth interviews
• During qualitative data analysis, the researcher tries to identify
categories that describe what happened, and organise them into
major themes that provides broader explanations to the
phenomenon under study.
1. Type of
Data
Research Types

27. II. Research Types
Research question:
How do teachers’
conceptions of what a
good piece of writing is
influence their ways of
teaching writing?
Design
 Research design: A
case study
 Collection of data: In-
depth interviews, video/
recording, observation.
1. Type of
Data
Research Types

28. II. Research Types
Different parameters can be used to distinguish
between research types:
Type of Data:
quantitativequalitative
Research Design:
Experimental
research/ survey/
case study/
ethnography, etc.
Research Types

29. Research Types
Creswell (2012, 12)

30. Task
Research Types
Type of research:…………………………………….
Research question:…………………………………..
Research Design: ……………………………………

31. II. Research Types
Research Types
2. Research
Design

32. II. Research Types
Research Types
Research design refers to the decisions the researcher needs
to make concerning data collection and data analysis so as to
answer the research question plausibly and economically.
Decisions need to be made about:
 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 analysed?
2. Research Design

33. II. Research Types
Research Types
Sampling design
• deals with the
methods of
selecting items to
be observed in a
given study.
Data collection
design
• aims at specifying
the research
instruments to be
adopted in
gathering data.
• makes accounts
for the conditions in
which data is going
to be collected.
Data analysis design
• concerns decisions
made on the
statistical tools or
the inferential
strategies adopted
in data analysis.
2. Research Design
Khotari (2005: 32) breaks down the process of research
design into three major parts:

34. II. Research Types
Research Types
Validity
• “the extent to which a
piece of research
actually investigates
what the researcher
purports to investigate”
(Nunan: 1996, 14)
Reliability
• It “refers to the
consistency of
data collection,
analysis and
interpretation.”
(Nunan: 1996, 14)
2. Research Design
The quality of research designs is evaluated with regard
to two major criteria:

35. II. Research Types
Research Types
Research Situation
A researcher wants to test
whether an educational
practice makes a
difference for students.
“Experimental Research is a collection of
research designs which use manipulation and
controlled testing to understand causal
processes. Generally, one or more variables
are manipulated to determine their effect on a
dependent variable.”
1. Experimental Design
Research
Design?

36. II. Research Types
Research Types
A Variable
A characteristic that does not
remain constant and that can
assume different forms of
value.
Independe
nt Variable
Dependent
Variable
Independent Variable:
the variable that the
experimenter expects to be
influential.
Dependent Variable:
The variable expected to be
influenced by the
independent variable.
• Manipulating existing methods
of instruction.
• Introducing new methods of
instruction
• Students’ results in language tests
• Students’ patterns of behaviours.
1. Experimental Design

37. II. Research Types
Research Types
1. Experimental Design
Control Group:
a group of subjects excluded from
the experimental design so that it
can not be influenced by the
manipulated factors. Forming a
control group helps rule out
alternate explanations of the
experimental results.
Experimental group:
a group of subjects in a
scientific experiment who
receive the special treatment
of the experimental design.
This group is exposed to
the independent variable for
a certain period of time and
subjected to observation and
tests.

38. Task
Research Types
Please study the two abstracts illustrating
experimental research and specify
1. the variables
2. the groups of subject

39. II. Research Types
Research Types
1. Experimental Design
A hypothesis
Beginner language learners
understand listening texts better
when these texts are presented
in the form of video clips for
watching.

40. II. Research Types
Research Types
Test students’ performance of
listening comprehension when
using videos.
Test two groups of students,
one has used the innovative
material and the other has not.
1. Experimental Design
The students in the two
groups may have different
levels and this could have
affected their performances
in the test.
Steps Expected Problems
Many other variables could
have accounted for
students’ positive
performance.

41. II. Research Types
Research Types
randomly assign individuals to
treatment, and make both
groups sit a pre-test and a post-
test.
1. Experimental Design
Steps Results
• Random assignment is
used so that any bias in
the personal
characteristics of
individuals in the
experiment is distributed
equally among the groups.
•Random assignment
provides control for
extraneous variables that
might influence the
outcome.

42. II. Research Types
Research Types
Criteria to evaluate experimental research
1. Experimental Design
The experiment has a
powerful intervention.
The treatment groups
are few in number and
an adequate number
of participants were
used in the study
The researcher derives
the number of
participants per group
in some systematic
way.
The researcher
controls for extraneous
factors that might
influence the outcome.

43. II. Research Types
Research Types
Research Situation
A researcher wants to examine the
association between variables as they
interact in their natural environment.
He is also unable to provide an
intervention or to assign individuals to
groups.
“Correlational designs are procedures in
quantitative research in which investigators
measure the degree of association (or relation)
between two or more variables using correlational
statistical procedures.”
(Creswell: 2012, 338)
1. Correlational Design
Research Design?

44. II. Research Types
Research Types
Because researchers do
not compare different
groups in correlational
studies, research
questions focus on one
group of individuals.
Samples of research questions:
1. Is creativity related to
IQ scores for
elementary students?
2. Is there a connection
between the
personality type of
beginner foreign
language learners and
their speaking abilities
in the target
language?
1. Correlational Design

45. II. Research Types
Research Types
1. Correlational Design
 “Correlational tests are statistical means used to determine how far do the
tendencies or patterns for two variables or two sets of data vary consistently.”
(Creswell: 2012:, 338)
Positive correlation: a direct relationship
whereby the amount of one variable
Increases, the amount of a second variable
increases. Negative correlation: as the amount of one
variable goes up, the amount of a second
variable goes down.
No correlation: no relation
exists between the two variables
under study.

46. II. Research Types
Research Types
Research Situation
The researcher needs to:
 describe trends in a large population of
individuals;
 determine individual opinions;
 evaluate programs.
 assess community needs for educational
services.
“Survey research designs are procedures in quantitative
research in which investigators administer a survey to a
sample or to the entire population to describe the attitudes,
opinions, behaviours, or characteristics of a population."
3. Survey Design
Research Design?

47. II. Research Types
Research Types
3. Survey designs
Examples of research
questions:
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Researchers collect quantitative
data using:
Mailed/ web-based questionnaires,
One-on-one interviews
Focus group interviews
• What type of activities do EFL
teachers assign for the pre-reading
stage?
• What are the expectations of
secondary school students from
learning English?
Data are analysed by
means of both descriptive
and inferential statistics.

48. II. Research Types
Research Types
Surveys
Cross-
sectional
longitudinal
3. Survey designs
Cross-sectional survey
allows researchers to
examine current attitudes,
opinions and practices. The
researcher collects data at
one point of time.
• Longitudinal surveys
allow researchers to
examine certain
phenomena over a period of
time, sometimes lasting for
several years.
• Data is collected at the
outset of the study and at
different points of time
throughout the time span
allotted for the study.

49. II. Research Types
Research Types
Research Situation
The researcher wants to conduct an in-depth
study about the social and cultural patterns
among the members of a class.
“Ethnography involves the study of the culture/ characteristics
of a group in real-world rather than laboratory settings. The
researcher makes no attempt to isolate or manipulate the
phenomena under investigation, and insights and
generalizations emerge from close contact with the data
rather than from a theory of language learning and use”
(Nunan: 1996, 55)
4. Ethnographic Design
Research Design?

50. II. Research Types
Tasks Tools and
Strategies
Outcomes
Collecting
data
Participant
observation
In- depth interviews
Focus groups
Field notes
Audio/ Video
recordings
Transcripts
Examinin
g data
Highlight points in the
text
Write comments on
the margin
Write reflections on
the data
Identifying
common themes
Contextualise
and annotate data
Provide
references to
related literature

Research Types
4. Ethnographic design

51. II. Research Types
 Tasks: the researcher has to
• organise data in an invented but
systemic way
• identify major categories in the data.
These categories have to be both
inclusive and exclusive
 Strategies: the researcher needs to
• summarise the data
• experiment with a number of
formulations
• tabulate categories on a chart
• sketch diagrams

Research Types
4. Ethnographic design

52. II. Research Types

Research Types
 The aim of the researcher is to identify
regularities, singularities and variations
in the analysed data. research yields
three major types of research:
1. The construction of typologies and
modals.
2. The production of intensive analytic
studies, of what Denzin (1989) call “thick
descriptions”.
3. The generation of valid theories which are
the outcome of rigorous analytical
procedures.
4. Ethnographic design

53. II. Research Types
Research Types
 A case study is “the study of an instance in action.
In other words, one selects an instance from the
class of objects and phenomena one is
investigating, (for example, ‘a second language
learner’ or ‘ a science classroom’) and investigates
the way this instance functions in society.”
(Nunan: 1996, 75)
A researcher wants to
understand how people
function in specific
contexts and what
phenomena affect their
behaviours
4. Case Study
Research Design?

54. II. Research Types
Research Types
 The researcher takes one single unit for his study purpose.
It can be a student, a teacher, a class or a school.
 The selected unit is studied intensively. The study extends
over a long period of time to ascertain the natural history of
the unit so as to obtain enough information for drawing
correct inferences.
 The researcher tries to understand the complex factors that
are operative within the unit and tries to study its aspects
through direct observation and in-depth interviewing.
4. Case Study
 Features of case
studies