Research designs and Types of Research designs

1. Research designs and Types
of Research designs
SUBMITTED BY- YASHIKA GUPTA
DATE- 12/04/2020

2. Research design definition
 Research design is the framework of research methods and techniques chosen
by a researcher. The design allows researchers to hone in on research methods
that are suitable for the subject matter and set up their studies up for success.
 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.

3. NEED FOR RESEARCH DESIGN
 Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing of the various
research operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding
maximal information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money.
 Just as for better, economical and attractive construction of a house, we need a
blueprint (or what is commonly called the map of the house) well thought out and
prepared by an expert architect, similarly we need a research design or a plan in
advance of data collection and analysis for our research project.
 Preparation of the research design should be done with great care as any error in it
may upset the entire project. Research design, in fact, has a great bearing on the
reliability of the results arrived at and as such constitutes the firm foundation of the
entire edifice of the research work.

4. Characteristics of good research design
 Neutrality: When you set up your study, you may have to make assumptions
about the data you expect to collect. The results projected in the research
design should be free from bias and neutral. Understand opinions about the
final evaluated scores and conclusion from multiple individuals and consider
those who agree with the derived results.
 Reliability: With regularly conducted research, the researcher involved expects
similar results every time. Your design should indicate how to form
research questions to ensure the standard of results. You’ll only be able to reach
the expected results if your design is reliable.

5. Characteristics of good research design
 Validity: There are multiple measuring tools available. However, the only correct
measuring tools are those which help a researcher in gauging results according
to the objective of the research. The questionnaire developed from this design
will then be valid.
 Generalization: The outcome of your design should apply to a population and
not just a restricted sample. A generalized design implies that your survey can
be conducted on any part of a population with similar accuracy.

6. Criteria of a Good Research
 One of the important characteristics of a good research is that the purpose of the
research is clearly defined. A research study with clearly defined purpose finds a
wider acceptance and acknowledgement within the research community.
 Second important characteristic of a good research is that the research method
should be defined in a clear manner with sufficient detail. This will allow the repetition
of the study in future for further advancement, while maintaining the continuity of
what has been done in the past.
 The third thing to remember is that any limitations and assumptions made by the
researcher during the course of the study should be clearly highlighted in the
research. This will support the findings of the research study, in case someone tries to
validate the study findings.

7. Criteria of a Good Research
 The fourth thing to remember is that, as far as possible, the research design
should be planned in a way that the results generated are as objective as
possible. This will provide an easier understanding about the findings of the
research.
 Another thing to be considered by the researcher is that there should be
sufficient data to investigate the research topic. And the researcher should
carefully check the reliability and validity of the data.
 Further, in order to deliver a good research, a researcher should confine the
conclusions to those justified by the data.
 Lastly, a good research depends a great deal on the integrity and commitment
of the researcher.

8. Steps to develop a research design
 Classify the intended outcome of what needs to be understood
 Developing the research question
 What needs to be measured
 Select the population for the experiment
 Identify the ideal data collection method
 Construct Interrelated characteristics
 Use correct analysis tools
 Choose a channel for disseminating your findings

9. DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS-
 Exploratory research, as the name implies, intends merely to explore the
research questions and does not intend to offer final and conclusive solutions to
existing problems. This type of research is usually conducted to study a problem
that has not been clearly defined yet.
 Conducted in order to determine the nature of the problem, exploratory
research is not intended to provide conclusive evidence, but helps us to have a
better understanding of the problem. When conducting exploratory research,
the researcher ought to be willing to change his/her direction as a result of
revelation of new data and new insights

10. Some tools used to conduct exploratory
research:
 1. Secondary information -Most often the best point to start research from is to
study the previous research conducted in this area. If you study what others
have found out, it will help you generate ideas, hypotheses and gain insights
 Personal interviews are a great tool of exploratory research and talking to
people with expertise in the respective areas can help you achieve your
objectives more easily.
 Focus group is also a highly popular technique used to conduct exploratory
research. A group of 8 to 12 people works on addressing a topic introduced by
the moderator and the researcher

11.  Case analysis- Analysing select cases also helps achieve the objectives of
exploratory research. By doing an in-depth analysis of elect cases related to the
topic one can reach his objectives.
 Projective techniques are useful where the researchers are exploring a topic on
which the respondents do not speak directly and clearly. Sensitive topics
people’s personal lives fall obviously in this category.

12. Examples of Exploratory Research Design
 The following are some examples for studies with exploratory research design in
business studies:
 A study into the role of social networking sites as an effective marketing
communication channel.
 An investigation into the ways of improvement of quality of customer services
within hospitality sector.
 An assessment of the role of corporate social responsibility on consumer
behavior in pharmaceutical industry.

13. DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS
 Descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with
describing the characteristics of a particular individual, or of a group, whereas
diagnostic research studies determine the frequency with which something
occurs or its association with something else.
 The studies concerning whether certain variables are associated are examples of
diagnostic research studies. As against this, studies concerned with specific
predictions, with narration of facts and characteristics concerning individual,
group or situation are all examples of descriptive research studies. Most of the
social research comes under this category

14.  Descriptive research as the name suggests is used for description or to
describe phenomenon or idea. It is generally used in the following conditions:
 1. to describe the traits of specific groups like our largest customers who account for
more than 60 percent of our sales and based upon the results design future marketing
efforts.
 2. Covariance of two variables – like does consumption of our services vary by income
range.
 3. to estimate the size of consumer groups in a population that act in a specific
manner. How often do newly married like to shop from our brand?
 4. For specific predictions. Forecasting the number of companies switching to new CRM
software.

15. DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS
 Hypothesis-testing research studies (generally known as experimental
studies) are those where the researcher tests the hypotheses of causal
relationships between variables. Such studies require procedures that will not
only reduce bias and increase reliability, but will permit drawing inferences about
causality. Usually experiments meet this requirement. Hence, when we talk of
research design in such studies, we often mean the design of experiments
 Evaluation Research: This is quite extensive as it measures the effectiveness of
a program.
 Diagnostic research design: In diagnostic design, the researcher is looking to
evaluate the underlying cause of a specific topic or phenomenon

16. DIFFERENT RESEARCH DESIGNS
 Explanatory research design: Explanatory design uses a researcher’s ideas and
thoughts on a subject to further explore their theories. The research explains
unexplored aspects of a subject and details about what, how, and why of research
questions.
 Correlational research design: Correlational research is a non-experimental
research design technique that helps researchers establish a relationship between
two closely connected variables. This type of research requires two different groups.
There is no assumption while evaluating a relationship between two different
variables, and statistical analysis techniques calculate the relationship between them.
 Experimental research design: Experimental research design establishes a
relationship between the cause and effect of a situation. It is a causal design where
one observes the impact caused by the independent variable on the dependent
variable.

17. Type of research being carried out.
 With a clear understating of the types of research designs, design research can
be drawn. Just like the way an architect chooses a layout from its many designs
to fit a specific landscape, the same way a research design is picked from the
many designs to fit the type of research being carried out.
 On the general term, the research design is viewed from two
perspectives, quantitative research design or qualitative research design, which
both have extended components. They can both be used or applied distinctively
or together.

18. Quantitative research design
 Quantitative research design: Quantitative research is for cases where statistical
conclusions to collect actionable insights are essential. Numbers provide a better
perspective to make critical business decisions. Quantitative research design
methods are necessary for the growth of any organization. Insights drawn from
hard numerical data and analysis prove to be highly effective when making
decisions related to the future of the business.

19.  A quantitative research design is used to examine the relationship between variable by using numbers
and statistics to explain and analyze its findings and there are four types of quantitative research design:
 Descriptive design research: As the name implies, it is intended to describe the present status of this
type of design that does not require a hypothesis to begin with. These analyses are generated from
existing data.
 Correlational design research: This seeks to discover If two variables are associated or related in some
way, using statistical analysis, while observing the variable.
 Experimental design research: This is a method used to establish a cause and effect relationship
between two variables or among a group of variables. The independent variable is manipulated to
observe the effect on the dependent variable. For example, a certain group is exposed to a variable and
then compared with the group not exposed to the variable.
 Quasi-experimental design research: This experiment is designed just like the true experimental design,
except that it does not use randomized sample groups. Also, it is used when a typical research design is
not practicable.

20. Qualitative research design
 Qualitative research design: Qualitative research determines relationships
between collected data and observations based on mathematical calculations.
Theories related to a naturally existing phenomenon can be proved or disproved
using statistical methods. Researchers rely on qualitative research design
methods that conclude “why” a particular theory exists along with “what”
respondents have to say about it.
 Qualitative research design, on the other hand, is exploratory in nature as it tries
to explore not to predict the outcome. It seeks to answer the questions of what
and how.

21.  A qualitative research design is used to explore the meaning and understanding of complex
social environments, like the nature of people’s experience, using case studies. A quantitative
research design shares similar characteristics with scientific research in the following ways.
 An outline question stating the problem that needs to be solved.
 Has a set order and procedure used to answer these questions?
 Analyses the data generated.
 Draws its conclusion after the data has been collated and analyzed so that the conclusion drawn
from the findings is not predetermined.
 Besides the similarities identified above, a qualitative research design also intends to understand,
understand, describe or discover the findings. The researcher is usually the primary instrument
formulates the question and interprets the meaning of the data.

22.  The data used are mostly documented words from interviews, newspapers videos,
etc. More than one type of data is collected during this research, from the field,
where the participants are.
 In other words, the research goes beyond the intended scope, so making it
emergent because the method of research changes and different types of data
might be collected as the research goes on

23. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS
 The Principle of Replication, the experiment should be repeated more than
once. Thus, each treatment is applied in many experimental units instead of one.
By doing so the statistical accuracy of the experiments is increased.
 The Principle of Randomization provides protection, when we conduct an
experiment, against the effect of extraneous factors by randomization. In other
words, this principle indicates that we should design or plan the experiment in
such a way that the variations caused by extraneous factors can all be combined
under the general heading of “chance.”

24. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGNS
 The Principle of Local Control is another important principle of experimental
designs. Under it the extraneous factor, the known source of variability, is made
to vary deliberately over as wide a range as necessary and this needs to be
done in such a way that the variability it causes can be measured and hence
eliminated from the experimental error

25. Conclusion
 There are several research designs and the researcher must decide in advance
of collection and analysis of data as to which design would prove to be more
appropriate for his research project. He must give due weight to various points
such as the type of universe and its nature, the objective of his study, the
resource list or the sampling frame, desired standard of accuracy and the like
when taking a decision in respect of the design for his research project.