Research Designs

Objectives :

Describe the nature of research designs.

Explain exploratory research designs.

Discuss the designs used for descriptive studies.

Describe the range of experimental designs available.

Identify and control the errors in research designs.

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 Lecture Outline

Introduction
Nature and Classification of Research Designs
Exploratory Research Designs Descriptive
Research Designs
Experimental Designs
Errors affecting Research Design
Summary
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Introduction
Unit-3 Research Designs

It has been found by research scholars and managers alike that

most research studies do not result in any significant findings
because of a faulty research design.

The design approach available to the researcher are many and will
depend on whether the study is of descriptive or conclusive
nature.

The designs range from very simple, loosely structured to highly

scientific experimentation.

In this unit, you will study the complete choice of designs, along
with detailed reasoning on which design should be used under
what conditions.

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The Nature and
Unit-3 Research Designs

Classification of
Research Designs

Thyer (1993) states that, A traditional research design is a for

blueprint or detailed plan how a research study is to be
completedoperationalizing variables so they can be measured,

selecting a sample of interest to study, collecting data to be used

as a basis for testing hypotheses, and analysing the results.

Kerlinger (1995) refers to a research design as, .. a plan,

structure and strategy of investigation so conceived as to obtain
answers to research questions or problems. The plan is the
complete scheme or programme of the research. It includes an
outline of what the investigator will do from writing the hypothesis
and their operational implications to the final analysis of data.

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 The Nature and
Unit-3 Research Designs

Classification of
Research Designs

The has a number of

researcher
designs available to him
for investigating the
research objectives.

The classification that is universally

followed is the one based upon the
objective or the purpose of the study.

A simple classification that is based

upon the research needs ranging
from simple and loosely structured to
the specific and more formally
structured.

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 Unit-3 Research Designs

Exploratory Research Designs

Exploratory designs are the simplest and most loosely structured
designs. The basic objective of the study is to explore and obtain
clarity about the problem situation.

The essential purpose of the study is to:

Define and understand the research problem to be investigated.

Explore and evaluate the diverse and multiple research opportunities.

Assist in the development and formulation of the research hypotheses.

Define the variables and constructs under study.

Identify the possible nature of relationships that might exist between

the variables under study.

Explore the external factors and variables that might impact the
research.

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Research
Unit-3 Research Designs

Designs
The researcher can make use of different methods and techniques in
an exploratory research like:

Secondary Resource Analysis:

Secondary sources of data are data in terms of the details of previously
collected findings in facts and figureswhich have been authenticated
and published.

Based on the resources and the level of accuracy required, the

researcher might decide to make use of them.

Case Study Method:

This requires an in-depth study and is focused on a single unit of
analysis. This unit could be an employee or a customer; an organization
or a complete country analysis.

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Research
Unit-3 Research Designs

Designs
Expert Opinion Survey:
The approach of collecting particulars from significant and knowledgeable
people is referred to as the expert opinion survey. This methodology
might be formal and structured and is useful when authenticated or
supported by a secondary/primary research or it might be fluid and
unstructured and might require an in-depth interviewing of the expert.

Focus Group Discussions:

In a typical focus group, there is a carefully selected small set of
individuals representative of the larger respondent population under
study. It is called a focus group as the selected members discuss the
concerned topic for the duration of 90 minutes to, sometimes, two hours.
Usually the group is made up of six to ten individuals.

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Unit-3 Research Designs

Descriptive Research Designs

The objective descriptive research studies is to provide a

of
comprehensive and detailed explanation of the phenomenon
under study. The intended objective might be to give a detailed
sketch or profile of the respondent population being studied.

Descriptive research thus are conclusive studies. However, they

lack the precision and accuracy of experimental designs, yet it
lends itself to a wide range of situations and is more frequently
used in business research.

Descriptive research is further subdivided into two

categories:
Cross-sectional studies and Longitudinal studies.

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Research
Unit-3 Research Designs
Designs
Cross-
sectional
studies
The cross-sectional study is
carried out at a single
moment in time and thus the
applicability is most relevant
for a specific period.
These studies are carried out
on a section of respondents
from the population units
under study (e.g.,
organizational employees,
voters, consumers, industry
sectors).
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Longitudinal
Studies
A single sample of the
identified population that is
studied over a longer period
of time is termed as a
longitudinal study design.
Longitudinal study using the
same section of respondents
thus provides more
accurate data than one
using a series of different
samples.
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Experimen
Unit-3 Research Designs

tal Designs
Experimental designs are conducted to infer causality. In an
experiment, a researcher actively manipulates one or more causal
variables and measures their effects on the dependent variables of
interest.

There are two conditions that should be satisfied while conducting

an experiment. These are:
Internal validity: Internal validity tries to examine whether the observed effect
on a dependent variable is actually caused by the treatments (independent
variables) in question.
External validity refers to the generalization of the results of an experiment.

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Experimental Designs
There are four types of experimental designs:

Pre-experimental designs:There are three designs under this one short case study where
observation is taken after the application of treatment, one group pre test-post test design
where one observation is taken prior to the application of treatment and the other one after
the application of treatment, and static group comparison, where there are two groups
experimental group and control group.

Quasi-experimental designs: In these designs the researcher can control when measurements
are taken and on whom they are taken.

True experimental designs: In these designs, researchers can randomly assign test units and
treatments to an experimental group.

Statistical designs: These designs allow for statistical control and analysis of external
variables.

Statistical design includes the following designs:

Completely randomized design: This design is used when a researcher is investigating the effect
of one independent variable on the dependent variable.

Randomized block design : In the randomized block design it is possible to separate the influence
of one extraneous variable on a particular dependent variable, thereby providing a clear picture
of the impact of treatment on test units.

Factorial design: A factorial design may be employed to measure the effect of two or more13
independent variables at various levels.
 Errors Affecting
Unit-3 Research Designs

Research Design
It is quite likely that members of the focus
group have not been selected properly.
Exploratory Secondary data may not be free from
research errors (in fact, one needs to evaluate the
methodology used in collecting such a
data).
It could happen that the respondents do
Descriptive not give correct responses to some of the
design questions, thereby resulting in wrong
information.

Many a times, in actual business situation,

the value judgments play very important
Experimental role in selecting the respondents. Further,
design there can always be errors in
observations.

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Summary
Unit-1 Introduction to Research

Research design is the blueprint or the framework for carrying out the
research study.

Based upon the objective or the purpose of the study, research design may
be exploratory, descriptive or experimental.

Exploratory designs are loosely structured and investigative in nature.

In case the hypothesis formulated is descriptive in nature, the study design

would also be descriptive. The study involves collecting the who, what, why,
where, why, when and how about the population under study.

Descriptive studies can further be divided into cross-sectional and

longitudinal design.

Experimental designs are conducted to infer causality. There are four types
of experimental designs pre-experimental designs, quasi experimental
designs, true experimental designs and statistical designs.

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