STEP 6: ELEMENTS OF

RESEARCH DESIGN
 Objectives of the Discussion Topic

• To understand the different aspects relevant to design a research

study.

• To identify the scope of any given study and the purpose for which
the results will be used.

• To decide for any given situation the type of investigation needed, the
study setting, the extent of researcher interference, the unit of analysis,
and the time horizon of the study.

• To identify whether a casual or a correlation study would be more

appropriate in a given situation.
The Research Process

Observation
Theoretical
Framework
Scientific Data
Problem
Collection,
definition Generation Research analysis &
of Design interpretati
Variables Hypothesis on
Identification

Preliminary
Data
Gathering Deduction
 Research Design
• Refers to the outline, plan, or strategy specifying the
procedure to be used in answering research questions
 The Research Design
Purpose of the Types of Extent of Study setting Measurement
study Investigation Researcher & Measures
interference
1. Feel for
Operational data
Exploratory Establishing: Minimal: studying Definition
Description -Casual events as they contrived scaling
Hypotheses relationship normally occur categorizing
Testing - Correlation's Manipulation non-contrived coding
- Group
difference
ranks, etc.

2.Goofiness
of data

Units of analysis Sampling Data collection

Time horizon method
(population to be design
studied) 3. Hypothesis
Testing

individuals Observation
dyads Interview
one-shot Questionnaire
groups
(cross-sectional) Physical
organizations Probability/
\machines Non-probability measurement
Longitudinal Un-obstructive
etc Sample size (n)
THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Studies can be either exploratory in nature, or descriptive, or they can

be conducted to test hypotheses.

The Case Studies, which is an examination of studies done in similar

organizational situations, is also a method of solving problems, or for
understanding phenomena of interest and generating additional
knowledge in that area.

The nature of the study - whether it is exploratory, descriptive or

hypothesis testing - depends on the stage to which knowledge about the
research topic has advanced.
Exploratory Study

Exploratory studies are undertaken to better comprehend the nature of

the problem, since very few studies might have been conducted in that
area.

Extensive interviews with many people might have to be undertaken to

get handle on the situation and to under stand the phenomena. After
obtaining a better understanding, more rigorous research proceed.

Some qualitative studies (as opposed to quantitative data gathered

through questionnaire, etc.) where data are collected through observation
or interviews, are exploratory studies in nature.

When the data reveals some pattern regarding the phenomena of interest,
theories are developed and hypotheses formulated for subsequent testing.
Example: Managers of firm wants to explore the
nature of managerial work

Based on the analysis of his interview data, he

formulated theories of managerial roles, the nature
and types of managerial activities, and so on.
Descriptive Study

A descriptive study is under taken in order to ascertain and be able to

describe the characteristics of the variables of interest in a situation.

For instance, a study of class in terms of the percentage of members who

are in their senior and junior years, gender composition, age groupings,
number of semesters until graduation, and number of business courses
taken, can only be considered as descriptive in nature.

Descriptive studies that present data in a meaningful form help to:

1. Understand the characteristics of a group in a given situation.

2. Think systematically about aspects in a given situation.

3. Offer ideas for further probe and research

4. Help make certain simple decisions (such as how many and what type
of individuals should be transferred from one department to another

Example: A bank manager wants to have a profile of the individuals

who have loan payments outstanding for six months and more. It
would include details of their average age, earnings, type of
occupation they are in, full time/part time employment status, and
the like. This information might help to ask for further information
or make an immediate decision on the types of individuals to whom
he would not extend loans in future.
Hypotheses Testing

Hypothesis testing is undertaken to explain the variance in the dependent

variable or to predict organizational outcomes.

Example: A Marketing manager would like to know the sales of the

company will increase if he doubles the advertising dollars. Here, the
manager wants to know the nature of the relationship between
advertising and sales that can be established by testing the hypothesis: If
advertising is increased, then sales will also up.
Example: The manager of a manufacturing firm believes that the
voluntary turn over is more of with it’s female employees. The
manager would like to test the difference between the turnover rates
of male and female.
Types of Investigation: Causal versus Correlational

When the researcher wants to define the cause of one or more problems,
then the study is called a Causal Study.

When the researcher is interested in delineate out the important variables

that are associated with the problem, it is called a Correlational Study.

Example: A causal study question: Does smoking cause cancer?

A correlational question: Are smoking and cancer related?

or

Are smoking, drinking, and chewing tobacco associated with

the cancer? If so which of these contributes most to the
variance in the dependent variable?
Extent of Researcher Interference with the Study

The extent to which the researcher interferes with the normal flow of
work at the workplace has direct bearing on whether the study
undertaken is casual or correlational.

A correlational study is conducted in the natural environment of the

organization, with the researcher interfering minimally with the normal
flow of work.

For example, if a researcher wants to study the factors influencing

training effectiveness (a correlational study), the individual simply has to
develop a theoretical framework, collect the relevant data, and analyze
them to come up with the findings. Although there is some disruption to
the normal flow of work in the system as the researcher interviews
employees and administers questionnaire at the workplace, the
researcher’s interference in the system is minimal compared with that in
causal studies.
 Extent of Researcher Interference

• In case of causal study the researcher would

try to manipulate certain variables so as to
study the effect on the dependent variable
• E.g. Effect of lighting on employee
performance
• The researcher's interfere is high
Study Setting: Contrived and Non-contrived

Organizational research can be done in the natural environment where

work proceeds normally (i.e., in non-contrived setting) or in artificial,
contrived settings.

Correlational studies are invariably conducted in non-contrived settings,

whereas rigorous causal studies are done in contrived lab setting.

Correlational studies done in organizations are called field studies.

Studies to establish cause and effect relationships using the same natural
environment in which employees normally function are called field
experiments.
Cause effect studies in contrived environment are termed as lab
experiments. The environment extraneous factors are controlled.
Unit of Analysis: Individuals, Dyads, Groups,
Organizations, Cultures

The unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation of the data

collected during the subsequent data analysis stages.

Individuals: If the problem statement focuses on how to raise the

motivational levels of employees in general, then we are interested in
individual employees in the organization and would like to find out what
we can do to raise their motivation. Here the unit of analysis is the
individual.

Dyads: If the researcher is interested in studying two-person

interactions, then several two-person groups, is known as dyads and will
become unit of analysis. For example, analysis of husband-wife in
families and supervisor-subordinate relationships in the workplace are
good examples of dyads as the unit of analysis.
Groups: If the problem statement is related to group effectiveness,
however, then obviously the unit of analysis would be at group level. For
example, if we wish to study group decision-making patterns, we would
probably examining such aspects as group size, group structure,
cohesiveness, and the like, in trying to explain the variance in group
decision making. In such cases the unit of analysis will be groups.

Organizations: If we compare different departments in the organization,

then the data analysis will be done at the departmental level - that is, the
individuals in the department will be treated as one unit and comparison
made treating the department as the unit of analysis.

Cultures: If we want to study cultural differences among nations, we

will have to collect data from different countries and study the
underlying patterns of culture in each country, here the unit of analysis
used will be cultures.
Time Horizon: Cross-sectional versus Longitudinal

Cross-Sectional Studies

A study can be done in which data are gathered just once, perhaps over a
period of days or weeks or months, in order to answer a research
question. Such studies are called one-shot or cross-sectional studies.

Longitudinal Studies

In some cases, the researcher might want to study people or phenomena

at more than one point in time in order to answer the research question.
For example, the researcher might want to study employees behavior
before and after a change in the top management, to learn the effects of
change.
Or when data on the dependent variable are gathered at two or more
points in time to answer the research question, are called longitudinal
studies.
Scenario A
Scenario B