Department of Architecture

Environmental Architecture MSc.

Regular Program

Research Methodology
Lecture Note 03 (ARCH-7105)

 Dr. Sileshi Azagew

3.2. RESEARCH DESIGN
 OUTLINE
 Research process
 Research design

 Review on research methods

 Quantitative research designs
 Qualitative research designs
 Mixed research designs
 3.1 RESEARCH PROCESS

 Research process is a sequence of activities or steps

leading to an end Product.
 Research process consists of series of actions or
steps necessary to effectively carry out research and
the desired sequencing of these steps.
 The following figure well illustrated a research
process. The chart indicates that the research process
consists of a number of closely related activities.
The process of research consists of six steps:

1. Formulating the Research Problem

2. Reviewing the Literature
3. Developing the objective or hypothesis
4. Preparing the research design(Including sample
design)
5. Collecting the data
6. Analysis of data (Hypotheses testing)
7. Interpretation and preparation of report
Formulating the research problem

 It is the first and most important step in the research

process.
 Main function is to decide what you want to find out
about.
 A research problem is like the foundation of a building.
 Serves as the foundation of a research study: if it is well
formulated, you can expect a good study to follow.
 It means stating the general research topic as an analytical
object.
 The way you formulate a problem determines almost
every step that follows.
 The research problem … (cont’d)

 The problem can be generated either by an initiating

idea, or by a perceived problem area.
 The research problems can arise from:

 Experience and interest,

 Other research, and
 Sources outside your major area of study.
 In all the cases, a problem must spring from the
researcher‘s mind like a plant springing from its
own seed.
 The research problem … (cont’d)

 In formulating your research problem:

Find an interest in a broad subject area
(problem area);
Narrow the interest to a plausible topic;
Question the topic from several points of
view; and
Define a rationale for your project.
 Reviewing the literature

 Involves reading and studying materials related to the

research subject or problem.
 Essential to familiarize yourself with the available body
of knowledge in your area of interest.
 It is integral part of entire research process.

 Its functions are:

a. Bring clarity and focus to your research problem

b. Improve your methodology
c. Broaden your knowledge
d. Contextualize your findings
 REVIEWING THE LITERATURE…(CONT’D)

a. Bring clarity and focus to your

research problem
 Reviewing the literature helps you to:

i. Understand the subject area better and

ii. Conceptualize your research problem clearly and

precisely.

iii. Understand the relationship between your research

problem and the body of knowledge in the area.
 REVIEWING THE LITERATURE…(CONT’D)

b. Improve your methodology

 A literature review tells you

 If others have used procedures and methods similar to the

ones that you are proposing,

 Which procedures and methods have worked well for them, and

 What problems they have faced when using the procedure.

 So you can select a better methodology that is capable of providing

valid answer to your research questions.
 REVIEWING THE LITERATURE…(CONT’D)

C. Broaden your knowledge base

 It ensures you to read widely around the subject area.

 As you are expected to be an expert in your area of study,

it helps fulfill this expectation.

 It also helps you to understand how the findings of your

study fit into the existing body of knowledge.
REVIEWING THE LITERATURE…(CONT’D)

d. Contextualize your findings:

 To be able to answer the following questions, you need to

go back to your literature review.
 How do answers to your research questions compare
with what others have found?
 What contribution have you been able to make in to
the existing body of knowledge?
 How are your findings different from those of others?

Source of literature in your field of enquiry include:

Books, Thesis/research papers
Journals articles, News paper and Internet
....etc.
 When you develop your proposal what were your
source of literature?
 The formulation of Research Objectives

 They are drive from research question or hypothesis.

 They used to

Attain goals of study.

Inform a reader what the research contain.
It determines the type of research (descriptive,
correlational and experimental)
Shows clearly and specifically about the study.
Use specific action verbs i.e.
 To determine.....

 To identify......

 To describe.......

 To calculate....etc.
 Formulation of Research Objectives…(Cont’d)

 The research objectives are classified into two types. general

and specific.
i. The general/ Main objectives ( aims):- it Shows overall
statement or in general terms that need study.
 The general objective of your study states what you
expect to achieve in general terms.
ii. The specific/ Sub-objectives:- are the specific aspects of
the topic within the main framework of your study.
To identify the distribution and patterns of a

problem.
To examine the factors that may influence the

problem.
To indicate how the research results will be used.

 Specific objectives break down the general objective into

smaller, logically connected parts.
 Formulation of Research Objectives…(Cont’d)

 For Example
 Main objective of the study is to examines the value addition,
advantages and interoperability issues associated with BIM
(Building Information Modelling) adoption.

 Specific objective
 To arrive at the perceived benefits of BIM.
 To identify the areas of value addition in the construction
industry.
 To identify the type and degree of information which can be
leveraged from using BIM.
 To identify the interoperability issues of BIM.
 Formulation of Research Objectives…(Cont’d)

• Characteristics Of Objectives
 Clear +
 Specific +
 Complete +
 Identify the main study+
 Identify the related variables
 Formulation of Research Objectives…(Cont’d)
Development of working hypotheses
 Hypotheses: is states your predictions about what your
research will find.
It is a tentative answer to your research question that has not
yet been tested.
A simple hypothesis might predict a causal relationship
between two variables, meaning that one has an effect on the
other. It also Predict simple correlation between variables.
A complex hypothesis is similar to a simple one but includes
two or more independent variables or two or more dependent
variables.
A precise, testable statement
Eg.
 The behaviour of driver can causes traffic accident.
 The quality of cement affects the building structure.
 Smoking causes lung cancer.
 More hours studying and more classes attended lead to higher
grades. (More complex).
 Formulation of Research Objectives…(Cont’d)

 There are two types of hypothesis.

 Alternative & Null.
 The researcher's prediction is usually referred to as
the alternative hypothesis, and any other outcome
as the null hypothesis -- basically, the opposite
outcome to what is predicted.
 However, the terms are reversed if the researchers
are predicting no difference or change,
hypothesizing.
 Eg. The behaviour of driver can causes traffic
accident. Is this Alternative & Null hypothesis?
3.2. Research Design

WHAT IS A RESEARCH DESIGN?

 A QUICK REVIEW ON RESEARCH METHODS
In general there are three major research methods

i. Quantitative Research:- is the collection and

analysis of numerical data to describe, explain,
predict, or control phenomena of interest.
ii. Qualitative Research:-is the collection,
analysis, and interpretation of comprehensive
narrative and visual (i.e., non-numerical) data
to gain insights into a particular phenomena of
interest.
Overview of qualitative an quantitative research characteristics
MIXED METHODS RESEARCH

iii. Mixed-methods research :- studies that

combine qualitative and quantitative data
collection methods.
 It is an approach to inquiry involving collecting
both quantitative and qualitative data, and
integrating the two forms of data.
 The core assumption of this form of inquiry is
that the combination of qualitative and
quantitative approaches provides a more
complete understanding of a research problem
than either approach alone.
WHAT IS A RESEARCH DESIGN?

 A research design is a plan, structure and strategy of

investigation so conceived as to obtain answers to
research questions or problems.
 It includes an outline of what the investigator will do
from writing the hypotheses and their operational
implications to the final analysis of data.
 Research designs are the specific procedures involved in
the research process:
 data collection

 data analysis, and

 report writing.
WHAT IS RESEARCH DESIGN?

Blueprint

Plan

Guide

Framework
TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN
 I. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN
 Two major types of quantitative research design
 QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS...(CONT’D)

Experimental Designs

 Experimental designs (also called intervention studies or

group comparison studies) are procedures in quantitative
research in which the investigator determines whether an
activity or materials make a difference in results for
participants.
 You assess this impact by giving one group one set of
activities (called an intervention) and withholding the set from
another group.
 Most commonly associated with laboratory test procedures
 QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS...(CONT’D)
Correlational Designs

 Correlational designs are the procedures in quantitative

research in which investigators measure the degree of
association (or relation) between two or more variables
using correlational analysis.
 Focus on examining the association or relation of one
or more variables than in testing the impact of activities
or materials.
 This degree of association, expressed as a number,
indicates whether the two variables are related or
whether one can predict another.
 To accomplish this, you study a single group of
individuals rather than two or more groups as in an
experiment.
 QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS...(CONT’D)
Descriptive Designs

 Describe trends in a large population of individuals.

In this case, a survey is a good procedure to use.
 Descriptive research designs aims to observe,
describe and document aspects of a situation as it
naturally occurs.
 Descriptive studies are designed to gain more
information about characteristics within a select or a
particular field of study.
 Descriptive studies provide a picture of a situation
as it occurs in natural setting.
 QUANTITATIVE DESIGNS...(CONT’D)

Types Descriptive Design

1. Univariate descriptive design-explores each variable

in a data set, separately. Eg, age or educational
status..
2. Exploratory descriptive design-aims to explain why
particular phenomena work in the way that they do.
3. Comparative descriptive design-used to describe
variables and examine differences in variables in two
or more groups that occur naturally in a setting.
 II. QUALITATIVE DESIGNS
Grounded Theory Designs
 Instead of studying a single group, you might examine a
number of individuals who have all experienced an action,
interaction, or process.
 Grounded theory designs are systematic, qualitative
procedures that researchers use to generate a general
explanation (grounded in the views of participants, called a
grounded theory) that explains a process, action, or
interaction among people.
 The procedures for developing this theory include primarily
collecting interview data, developing and relating categories
(or themes) of information, and composing a figure or visual
model that portrays the general explanation.
 In this way, the explanation is “grounded” in the data from
participants. From this explanation, you construct predictive
statements about the experiences of individuals.
 QUALITATIVE DESIGNS…(CONT’D)
Ethnographic Designs
 You may be interested in studying one group of
individuals, in examining them in the setting where they
live and work, and in developing a portrait of how they
interact. An ethnographic study is well suited for this
purpose.
 Ethnographic designs are qualitative procedures for
describing, analysing, and interpreting a cultural group’s
shared patterns of behaviour, beliefs, and language that
develop over time.
 In ethnography, the researcher provides a detailed picture
of the culture-sharing group, drawing on various sources
of information.
 The ethnographer also describes the group within its
setting, explores themes or issues that develop over time
as the group interacts, and details a portrait of the group.
 QUALITATIVE DESIGNS…(CONT’D)

Narrative Research Designs

 In narrative Research Designs you wish to tell the stories

of one or two individuals.
 In Narrative research designs researchers describe the
lives of individuals, collect and tell stories about these
individuals’ lives, and write narratives about their
experiences.
 In education, these stories often relate to school
classroom experiences or activities in schools.
 III. MIXED METHOD DESIGNS

Mixed Methods Designs

 You decide to collect both quantitative data (i.e.,

quantifiable data) and qualitative data (i.e., text or
images).
 Mixed methods designs are procedures for collecting,
analysing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative
data in a single study or in a multiphase series of studies.
 The core argument for a mixed methods design is that
the combination of both forms of data provides a better
understanding of a research problem than either
quantitative or qualitative data by itself.
 Mixed methods...(Cont’d)

 In this process, you need to decide on the emphasis you

will give to each form of data (priority), which form of
data you will collect first (concurrent or sequential), how
you will “mix” the data (integrating or connecting), and
whether you will use theory to guide the study (e.g.,
advocacy or social science theory).
 Mixed methods...(Cont’d)
Action Research Designs

 Like mixed methods research, action research designs

often utilize both quantitative and qualitative data, but
they focus more on procedures useful in addressing
practical problems.
 Action research designs are systematic procedures used
by researcher to gather quantitative and qualitative data
to address the problems. In case of urban planning
researches, they are focused on improvements in their
urban setting.
 In some action research designs, you seek to address and
solve local, practical problems, such as housing, urban
transport..etc. issues.
THANK YOU