Chapter-3

Research Design

Ram Nath Neupane,PhD

• find the missing number
• 196 (25) 324
• 329 (?) 137
 concept
• a comprehensive action plan made by
researcher to seek the answer to a
problem
• the researcher plans or makes a
framework from beginning to end of
his/her study in order to complete the
study
• a blueprint for collection, measurement
and analysis of data
• A research design is the arrangement of
conditions for the collection and analysis
of data in a manner that aims to combine
relevance to the research purpose with
economy in procedure. (Selltiz, Deutsch &
Cook, 1962).
• A research design is 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
program of the research. It includes an
outline of what the investigator will do from
writing the hypotheses and their
operational applications to the final
analysis of data. (Kerlinger, 1986)
• A traditional research design is a blue print
or detailed plan for how research study is
to be completed- operationalizing
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 analyzing the
results (Thyer,1993).
• it includes about who to do, what to do,
when to do, how to do, where to do, etc.
 features
• reliability
• objectivity
• validity
• replicability
• generalizability
• flexibility
• reality
 Types
• Exploratory research design: It is used
to identify and analyse the problem,
slection of alternatives or new ideas where
there is less knowledge
• focus: get insights and become familiar
with subject matters, variables and
potential relationship.
• develops concepts more clearly,
establishes priorities, develops operational
definitions, and improves final research
• uses informal approach and explains the
problems and collects data
• formulate hypothesis, present a clear
situation and presents a situation and
provides direction for formal research
 Descriptive research design
• studies subject matter in detail and
explains the facts and characteristics
related to research problem
• collects the facts and figures in a certain
situation
• aims to describe various aspects of an
individual, organization, etc to the
researcher
• it uses the scientific method of collecting,
classifying and analysing data, facts and
figures
 Research process
Identifing problem
specifying objectives
collecting sample
preparing procedures for collecting data
collecting data
processing and analysing data
preparing reports incorporating facts
 Case study
• Case study is an in-depth study on particular
student, teacher, class, school, etc. (Wallace,
2010).
• The researcher explores in-depth a program,
event, activity, process or one or more
individuals (Creswell, 2009).
• It comprises an intensive study of the
background, current status, and environmental
interactions of a given social unit: an individual,
a group, an institution or a community (Brown,
2014)
• The gathering of information or data through
multiple sources and perspectives is key
characteristic of the case study approach
(Lodico, Spaulding &Voegtle, 2006).
• To begin a case study, researchers first identify
the problem of questions to be investigated and
develop the rationale for why case study is an
appropriate approach to be used in the study.
 Research Process

1.Identifying the problem

2.Specifying the objectives
3.Postulating the hypothesis
4.Deciding upon research tools, recording devices, and
time frame
5.Preparing research tools
6.Collecting data repetitively
7.Analyzing data
8.Drawing conclusion
9.Preparing the draft
10.Finalizing it after revision and editing.
 survey research
• Survey is an old research design developed in 18th
century.
• It is used to find out peoples' attitudes, opinions or
perceptions and specified behavior on a certain issue,
phenomenon or situation.
• Nunan (2010) puts," The basic goal of survey research is
to establish a base line of the existing situation or to
obtain a snapshot of conditions, attitudes and events at a
single point in time".
• In survey research, we can choose any modes of data
collection: direct administration survey, mail survey,
telephone surveys, interviews, email surveys and web-
based surveys (Creswell, 2005; Martens, 2005).
• Survey research is the social scientific research that
focuses on people, the vital facts about people and their
beliefs, opinions, attitudes, motivations and behavior
(Kerlinger, 1975).
• It is a method of collecting information by asking a set of
pre-formulated questions in a predetermined sequence
in a structured questionnaire to a sample of individuals
so as to be representative of a defined population
(Hutton, 1990).
 Research Process

1.Identifying the problem.

2.Specifying the objectives
3.Constructing hypothesis
4.Expanding theoretical knowledge and literature
5.Writing research proposal and preparing tools
6.Piloting the research tools
7.Field visit
8.Building a rapport with authority and respondents
9.Sampling the required number of population
10.Fixing the time for data collection
11.Collecting the data
12. Presenting, describing and interpreting the data
 Experimental research
• An experiment involves the creation of artificial
situation in which events that generally go
together, are pulled apart. The participants in an
experiment are called subjects, the elements or
facts included in the study are termed variables.
Independent variables are those that are
systematically altered by the experimenter.
Those items that are affected by the
experimental treatments are the dependent
variables. (Somer&Somer, 1991)
• Experiment deals with the process of supporting
or rejecting a hypothesis in order to get insight
into the cause and effect of something. The
cause- effect relation between the variables is
must in the experimental research.
• Experimental research is the procedure for
testing a hypothesis by setting up a situation in
which the strength of the relationship between
variables can be tested (Nunan, 2010). Here, a
natural environment is intervened and a new
treatment is introduced during the experiment.
 Correlational research
• Correlational research is a type of research method that
involves observing two variables.
• The main purpose of correlational research is to find out
the existence of relationship between the variables.
• It is objective based research rather than research tools.
Therefore, selection of research tools and sampling
procedures depend on the research objectives.
• Correlation coefficient is an important value in
correlational research that indicates whether the
relationship between variables is positive, negative or
non-existent.
• if increase in one variable causes increase in
other variable, then they are called positively
correlated. eg. increase in the demand of goods
increases the price- demand and price-
positively correlated
• if increase in one variable causes decrease in
another vaiable, they are called negatively
correlated.
• eg. if increase in the price decreases in the demand of
goods- price and demand- negatively correlated
• if there may have no effect of increase or
decrease in one variable to another, then
they are called zero correlation
• The strength of a correlation between
quantitative variables is typically measured
using a statistics called person's correlation
coefficient.
• Correlation coefficients are the most common
descriptive and inferential statistics for
measuring correlation.Correlational studies allow
us to determine the extent to which scores on
one test are associated with scores on another
test (Hatch &Farhady, 1982).
 Developmental Research
• This research design predicts the future trend change
considering social, economic, and cultural events and
activities in the past.
• e. g. customer’s product preferences have been
changing along with the change in information
technology, product development, social cultural change,
etc.
• It studies the variables of specified time, correlation
between the variables, rate of changes, directions and
other inter-related subjects.
• It aim to predict future events considering past
occurrences, and trends.
Types of developmental design
• Longitudinal study- over a period/
intervals of time
• Trend study- several intervals of time
• Cross-sectional study- at a single time
• Cohort study - with similar characteristics,
values or experience in a different periods
of time
 Causal comparative design
• also called ex-post facto research design- (from
what done afterward)
• aims to investigate possible cause and effect
relationship of variables
• a method in which groups with qualities that
already exist are compared on some dependent
variables.
• In this research, the independent variable or
variables have already occurred and in which
the researcher starts with observation of a
dependent variable or variables(Kerlinger, 1964).
• Here, researcher takes one or more dependent
variables and examines the data by going back
through time, observing causes, relationship and
their meaning.
• The researcher selects two groups to observe
the effect of independent variable.
• Tuchman (1972) defines the term ex-post fact
as an experiment in which the researchers
examine the effects of a naturalistically occurring
treatment has occurred rather than creating the
treatment itself. The experimenter attempts to
relate this after the fact treatment to an outcome
or dependent measure.
• An ex-post fact design is considered quasi
experimental as the subjects are not randomly
assigned.
 Research process

1.Determine the problem.

2.Formulate the hypothesis.
3.Review the literature.
4.Write the proposal.
5.Prepare the research tools.
6.Collect the data.
7.Describe and interpret the data.
8.Draw the conclusion.
 Qualitative research
• This research aims to address human
behaviour, culture, trends, relationship, and
human values.
• The aim of qualitative researches often involve
the provision of careful and detailed descriptions
as opposed to the quantification of data through
measurements, frequencies, scores and findings
(Mackay & Gass, 2005).
• Qualitative research assumes that all knowledge
is relative i.e. subjective (Nunan, 2010).
 Qual
• Inductive reasoning is most closely associated
with qualitative approaches to research, which
collect and summarize the data using primarily
narrative or verbal methods: observation,
interview, questionnaires, documents, texts,
researchers' impressions, reactions, records and
films.
• Qualitative researchers are often said to take inductive
approaches to data collection because they formulate
hypothesis only after they begin to make observations,
interview people and analyze documents.
 Qual
• The main focus in qualitative research is to
understand, explain, explore, discover, and
classify the situations, feelings, perceptions,
intention, social movements, attitudes, values,
cultural phenomenon, beliefs and experiences of
a group of people (Kumar, 2011, Strauss
&Cordin, 1998)
• Case study, grounded theory, ethnography,
phenomenology, discourse analysis,
conversational analyis, content analysis, etc. are
the examples of qualitative research.
 Assumption
• Ontology (interpretivism)- multiple nature
of reality
• Epistemology (subjective knowledge)-
closer relation of researchers
• Axiology (Value laden)- subjective
judgement
• Methodology (inductive approach)
 feature
• interpretive
• based on qualitative fact
• purposive sampling
• change in research design
• self collection of data
• holistic assumption
• field work
• subjective
• inductive
Methods of qualitative research
• case study
• ethnograpgy
• grounded theory
• phenomenology