Research Methodology

Quantitative Research
Designs

Iraj Ratnayake, PhD

Department of Tourism Management
Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
Research Designs
understand what research design is and what it is not

A research is valid when a conclusion is accurate or true and research design is

the conceptual blueprint within which research is conducted.

A scholar for his research, prepares an action plan, it constitutes the outline of
collection, measurement and analysis of data. When designing research it is
necessary that we recognize the type of evidence required to answer the
research question in a reasonable way.

The right selection and preparation of such a design facilitate research to be

as efficient as possible yielding maximal information.

In other words, the function of research design is to provide for the collection
of relevant evidence with optimum effort, time and expenditure.

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Types of Research Designs

Quantitative
Research Designs

Research Qualitative
Designs Research Designs

Mixed-Methods
Research Designs

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Quantitative Research Designs

§ Experimental (True)
§ Quasi-experimental
§ Correlational
§ Survey
§ Evaluation

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Experimental (True)
§ An experiment is a study in which manipulates a variable, the
independent variable, and see what consequence that manipulation
has on another variable, the dependent variable.
§ Experiments are powerful techniques for evaluating cause-and-effect
relationships. Experiments are conducted both in the laboratory and in
real life situations.
§ These designs are those where researchers have complete control over
the extraneous variables and can predict confidently that the observed
effect on the dependent variable is only due to the manipulation of the
independent variable.
§ A true experimental design must essentially consists of the following
three characteristics.

§ Manipulation
§ Control
§ Randomisation

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Quasi-experimental
§ Like experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs involve the
manipulation of an independent variable to examine the consequence
of that variable on another (dependent) variable.
§ Quasi independent variables are used instead of true independent
variables and independent variable is not manipulated in complete
controlled situations.
§ In this design experiental and control groups are selected without
randomisation.
§ Dependent variables are observed in experimental as well as controll
groups before the intervention.
§ Later the experimental group receives the treatment, following which
the post test observation of dependent variable is carried out for both
the groups to assess the effect of the intervention or treatment of the
experiental group.

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Quasi-experimental

Experimental
Pre Test Treatment Post Test
Group

Control
Pre Test Post Test
Group

Figure 1: Non-randomised control group design

Experimental
O1 O2 O3 Treatment O1 O2 O3
Group
O = Observation

Figure 2: Time series design

Correlational
§ Correlational research designs evaluate the nature and degree of
association between two naturally occurring variables.
§ Correlational research is also sometimes referred to as a form of
descriptive research because it describes an existing relationship
between variables. The way it describes this relationship, however, is
quite different from the descriptions found in other types of studies.
§ A correlational study describes the degree to which two or more
quantitative variables are related, and it does so by using a correlation
coefficient.

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Correlational
§ The correlation coefficient is a statistical summary of the nature of the
inferred association between two constructs that have been
operationalised as variables.
§ It is a statistic used to measure the strength and direction of the linear
relationship, or correlation, between two factors. The value of r can
range from −1.0 to +1.0.

§ Explanatory studies
§ Prediction studies

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Survey
§ A nonexperimental research design used to describe an individual or a
group by having participants complete a survey or questionnaire is
called the survey research design.
§ A survey, which is a common measurement tool in the behavioural
sciences, is a series of questions or statements to which participants
indicate responses.
§ A survey can also be called a questionnaire or self-report because many
surveys specifically include questions in which participants report
about themselves—their attitudes, opinions, beliefs, activities,
emotions, and so on.

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Survey
§ Survey research is used to quantitatively describe specific aspects of a
given population as it uses a selected portion of the population from
which the findings can later be generalized back to the population.
§ Hence, considers unbiased representation of population of interest and
same information collected from every respondent information not
available from other sources. Also use survey data to complement
existing data from secondary sources.
§ There are three types of questions or statements that can be included
in a survey: open-ended items, partially open-ended items, and
restricted items.

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Evaluation
§ As an analytical tool, evaluation research involves investigating a policy
program to obtain all information pertinent to the assessment of its
performance, both process and result (output, outcome and impact) of
a social intervention.
§ Evaluation as a phase of the policy cycle more generally refers to the
reporting of such information back to the into the policy-making
process.

§ Formative evaluation
§ Summative evaluation

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