Research Design

Meaning of Research Design

 Research Design

• By the term ‘research’, we can understand

that it’s a collection of data that includes
critical information by taking research
methodologies into consideration.
• In other words, it is a compilation of
information or data explored by setting a
hypothesis and consequently coming up with
substantive findings in an organized way.
 Continued
• A Research Design is simply a structural framework of
various research methods as well as techniques that
are utilized by a researcher.
• The research design helps a researcher to pursue their
journey into the unknown but with a systematic
approach by their side.
• The way an architect frames a design for a structure,
likewise the researcher picks the design from various
approaches in order to check which type of research
to be carried out. 
 Continued
• Henry Manheim says that research design
not only anticipates and specifies the
seemingly countless decisions connected with
carrying out data collection, processing and
analysis but it presents a logical basis for these
decisions.
• Zikmund defined it as a master plan specifying
the methods and procedure for collecting and
analyzing the needed information.
 Continued
• In-fact the research design is the conceptual
framework within which research is
conducted:  
• A research design should be based on
some methodology which is taken up after the
topic is chosen, research problems have been
formulated and objectives and the hypothesis
have been outlined.
 Elements of Research Design 

The most important elements of a research design are:

• The method applied for analyzing collected details
• Type of research methodology
• Accurate purpose statement
• Probable objections for research
• Techniques to be implemented for collecting and analyzing
research
• Timeline
• Measurement of analysis
• Settings for the research study
 Types of Research Design
1. Descriptive Design 

• In this hypothesis-based design methodology,

the researcher primarily describes the subject
matter central to the research. Descriptive
research design applies to natural
observations, case studies, and surveys. This
method involves data collection, data analysis,
and its presentation. It allows the researcher
to put forth the problem to persuade others to
comprehend the necessity for the research. 
 Continued
• One of the components of research is getting
enough information about the research
problem—the what, how, when and where
answers, which is why descriptive research is
an important type of research. It is very useful
when conducting research whose aim is to
identify characteristics, frequencies, trends,
correlations, and categories.
 Continued
• This research method takes a problem with
little to no relevant information and gives it a
befitting description using qualitative and
quantitative research methods. Descriptive
research aims to accurately describe a
research problem.
 What is Descriptive Research?

• Descriptive research is a type of research that

describes a population, situation, or phenomenon
that is being studied. It focuses on answering
the how, what, when, and where questions If a
research problem, rather than the why.
• This is mainly because it is important to have a
proper understanding of what a research problem is
about before investigating why it exists in the first
place. 
Types of Descriptive Research Design
Descriptive-survey
Descriptive survey research uses surveys to gather data
about varying subjects. This data aims to know the
extent to which different conditions can be obtained
among these subjects. 
Descriptive-normative survey
This is an extension of the descriptive survey, with the
addition being the normative element. In the
descriptive-normative survey, the results of the study
should be compared with the norm.
 Continued
Descriptive-status
This is a quantitative description technique
that seeks to answer questions about real-life
situations. For example, a researcher
researching the income of the employees in a
company, and the relationship with their
performance.
 Continued
Descriptive-analysis
• The descriptive-analysis method of research
describes a subject by further analyzing it, which
in this case involves dividing it into 2 parts. For
example, the HR personnel of a company that
wishes to analyze the job role of each employee
of the company may divide the employees into
the people that work at the Headquarters and
those that work the branch offices.
 Continued
• Descriptive-comparative
• In this research, the researcher considers 2 variables that
are not manipulated, and establish a formal procedure to
conclude that one is better than the other. For example, an
examination body wants to determine the better method
of conducting tests between paper-based and computer-
based tests.
• A random sample of potential participants of the test may
be asked to use the 2 different methods, and factors like
failure rates, time factors, and others will be evaluated to
arrive at the best method.
 Continued
Correlative Survey
Correlative surveys are used to determine
whether the relationship between 2 variables
is positive, negative, or neutral. That is, if 2
variables, say X and Y are directly
proportional, inversely proportional or are not
related to each other.
 Characteristics of Descriptive Research Design

• Quantitativeness
• Descriptive research uses a quantitative
research method by collecting quantifiable
information to be used for statistical analysis
of the population sample. This is very common
when dealing with research in the physical
sciences.
 Continued
• Qualitativeness
• It can also be carried out using the qualitative
research method, to properly describe the
research problem. This is because descriptive
research is more explanatory
than exploratory or experimental.
 Continued
Uncontrolled variables
In descriptive research, researchers cannot control the
variables like they do in experimental research. 
The basis for further research
• The results of descriptive research can be further analyzed
and used in other research methods. It can also inform the
next line of research, including the research method that
should be used. This is because it provides basic
information about the research problem, which may give
birth to other questions like why a particular thing is the
way it is.
 Analytical Research Design
Analytical research is a specific type of
research that involves critical thinking skills
and the evaluation of facts and information
relative to the research being conducted. A
variety of people including students, doctors
and psychologists use analytical research
during studies to find the most relevant
information.
 Continued
• These designs are used to discover new
phenomena that lead to hypothesis
generation, and to explore causal mechanisms,
as well as to evaluate efficacy and
effectiveness.
• They include observational, retrospective,
prospective, pre-experimental, quasi-
experimental, blocking, factorial and time
series designs.
 Importance of Analytical Research

Analytical research brings together subtle

details to create more provable assumptions.
Thus, analytical research tells us why
something is true. Researching why something
happens isn't easy. You need critical thinking
skills and careful assessment of the facts.
 Steps of analytical research
• It has these nine steps:
• Identify the problem to solve.
• Choose an appropriate process.
• Use the process to hypothesize analysis or
solution elements.
• Design an experiment(s) to test the hypothesis.
• Perform the experiment(s).
• Accept, reject, or modify the hypothesis.
difference between analytical and descriptive

Academia recognizes two major types of

writing—descriptive writing and analytical
writing—which are both used in non-
academic situations as well.
As you might expect, descriptive writing
focuses on clear descriptions of facts or things
that have happened, while analytical writing
provides additional analysis.
 Descriptive vs. Analytical Research

Both descriptive and analytical research serve

a key role in statistics and data analysis. The
difference is in what they look at.
Descriptive research classifies, describes,
compares, and measures data. Meanwhile,
analytical research focuses on cause and
effect.
 Continued
• Descriptive and analytical research designs are
not totally different. Description of anything
can be analytically presented and no analysis
can be done without any description or
describing facts beforehand. Thus both of
these designs come simultaneously in every
study.
 Preparing a Research Proposal
Introduction
All researchers should be able to prepare a
proposal for a research topic to a professional
standard. Being able to produce such a proposal
is an important skill. Intending doctoral students
are required to prepare such a proposal when
applying for studentships and seeking formal
registration for their project. Such requirements
are also necessary for Masters and Bachelors
Courses at our university.
 Continued
• The research proposal is the means by which
we are able to demonstrate that we are able
to do this. As such, it allows us to spell out
what exactly is the research problem that we
are intending to investigate, why this is worthy
of investigation, and how we intend to carry
out the research.
 Continued
• In putting such a proposal together we shall
not only need to demonstrate our knowledge
of the area in which we are interested, but
also be required to show that we have the
necessary methodological competence and
sensitivity to carry out the research.
 Continued
To cover the essential ground in constructing a high-
quality research proposal, the researcher should
consider:
• What is a research proposal?
• What is the value of a research proposal?
• What should be included in a good research
proposal?
• How should a research proposal be structured?
• By what standards are research proposals assessed?
 What is a research proposal?

• The research proposal is an application that is prepared by

a researcher for support prior to embarking upon a
research study.
• The objectives of a research proposal may be seen as
providing a statement about the purposes of the research,
how it is to be carried out, the resource implications of the
proposed investigation.
• The research proposal is an argument. Through the
document, you are presenting a case, in which the
intention is to convince others of the general merits and
feasibility of the proposed study.
 significance of the proposed study

• The general research issues to be examined,

together with the methodological strategy to
be pursued, need to be carefully explained to
the reviewer. Each must also be fully justified.
• The proposal, then, should communicate your
specific intentions. This involves a clear
overview of the purpose of the proposed study
and of its importance, together with step by
step plan for conducting it.
 Continued
• The research problem(s) needs to be
identified, questions or hypotheses should be
stated, and key terms defined. You must
specify and justify which target group is to be
included in the sample, together with the
research design to be adopted, the research
instrument(s) to be used, the procedures to be
followed, and the methods of analysis to be
used.
 Continued
• All of these aspects of the project should be
covered, and at least a partial review of
previous related literature must be included.
This will enable you to ‘ground’ your project
theoretically – to make explicit links between
this and existing ideas and debates that are
taking place within the wider academic or
policy community.
 Continued
The literature review will also enable you to
demonstrate the suitability of your proposed research
strategy. Your case will be strengthened if you:
• Reference the type of methods used by other authors
in the past to conduct similar studies;
• You are then able to demonstrate that you have
appraised the effectiveness of these approaches in
generating data to examine the issues at hand, and
therefore justified your own choice of research strategy.
 Outline of the proposed research

• In the absence of any forms or guidelines,

there are general themes that you might use
to structure your own research proposal,
whether this is for a postgraduate
dissertation, or an application for external
funding. However, what follows are ‘elements’
of a proposal – you do not need to have each
as a particular heading.
 Title page

This should include each of the following:

• Your name
• The title of the proposed research
• Any collaborating agencies which have been
involved in the preparation of the proposal
• The date of submission
• If applicable, the funding agency to which you
are applying for support
 Abstract

• The abstract is a brief synopsis of the planned

research investigation. It appears at the front of
the proposal, but it is usually the last element
to be written. It should include two key areas –
the major objectives of the proposed study, and
the procedures and general methodological
strategy that are to be used in order to meet
these objectives. The abstract should be
approximately one page or less in length.
 Introduction to the study

• In the beginning is the problem. A problem is

an intellectual stimulus calling for an answer in
the form of scientific inquiry. It introduces the
field of study that you are going to undertake
and the specific problem that you are choosing
to carry out the research. In this section
identification of the problem, its background
and the current practices regarding the
problem should clearly be mentioned.
 Conceptual framework

• The key terms and the concepts regarding the study are
defined in this section. This is more of the theoretical
framework that guides your study throughout. For
instance, if you are conducting a study which involves
researching harassment at work, you will want to examine
different aspects and dimensions of this key concept.
• If you are conducting a research in Decentralization in
Nepal, you need to clarify what decentralization is and
what are its different forms in theory that will guide your
study in Nepal theoretically.
 Statement of the problem

• Once you have identified the problem in

introduction it is now time for you to clarify
why is it a problem? The particular research
questions that you intend to examine should be
stated here. These are usually, but not always, a
more specific form of the problem in question
form. For quantitative researchers, research
hypothesis will be set out at this stage for
reasons of clarity and as a research strategy.
 Continued
• For qualitative researchers, especially those
adopting an emergent research design, the
actual research questions and hypotheses will
not become clear until the research has
begun. Typically, these begin to take shape in
the course of data collection and analysis.
 Hypothesis

• Hypotheses are tentative answers to research problem.

They are expressed in the form of a relation between
independent and dependent variables. Hypotheses are
tentative answers because they can be verified only after
they have been tested empirically. In most of the social
science research testing hypotheses are not always
possible, they are used as guides to pursue the research
ahead. However, if hypotheses are set, they must be
clear, value-free and scientific and if possible amenable
to empirical testing with the available research methods.
 Objectives of the study

• Setting-up objectives in research is ‘research half-

completed’. Good research objectives will clarify
how you are going to achieve your goals and how
you are going to answer the questions you have
raised earlier.
• The researcher must not be taking too many
objectives in a single research. The maximum
number of objectives can be 4 to 5 and try to give
one chapter to clarify one objective. In this way it
will be easy to complete your research.
 Continued
• Some researchers try to deal one objective in two
or three chapters and some even try to deal two or
three objectives in one chapter. This will create
confusion in the research work.
• While drafting the objectives, one main objective
and two or three subsidiary or specific objectives
can also be drawn depending upon the number of
variables in your research. However, the clear-cut
objectives make your research work very easy.
 Justification of the study

The researcher must make clear why this

particular study is important to investigate.
You must present an argument for the work of
the study.
 Limitations of the study

• It is the scope of your study. If you leave the research

topic open, you may never complete your research. You
can limit your study in terms of time and subject. For
example, if you choose to study ‘Nepal’s Foreign Policy’, it
is a vague topic and you will have a hard time in doing this
research. Instead if you say ‘Nepal’s Foreign Policy from
1990 to 2000’ there is already time limit and you are
going to deal a period of only ten years. To make it
narrower you can even say ‘Economic Aspects of Nepal’s
Foreign Policy from 1990 to 2000. This will give both the
time limit as well as the subject limit.
 Methodology

• The methodology section should include a

discussion of your intended research design,
the sample you will examine, the instruments
to be used to conduct the investigation,
procedural detail for collecting your empirical
evidence, and the data analysis techniques to
be used.
 Continued

Research design
• The particular research design to be used should be
identified. You need to ensure that your choice of
approach is justified in this section. The basic design is
fairly clear cut, and fits one of the following models:
• Survey research
• Historical research
• Experimental research
• Observational/ethnographic research
• Documentary research
 Continued
Sample
• In your proposal, You should indicate what the size of
the sample will be and the respondents will be selected.
• For a quantitative research study, you should aim to
adopt a random sampling or, if this is unrealistic, a quota
sampling.
• For qualitative research design, you are likely to use
theoretical sampling to select your respondents. Your
reasons for choosing this sampling strategy should be
indicated.
 Continued

Instruments to be used
Whenever possible, existing research instruments
should be used in your study, since construction
of even the most straightforward test or
questionnaire is often very time consuming and
difficult. Furthermore, doing so will enable you to
make comparison between your findings and the
results from the earlier study from which the
research instrument was borrowed.
 Continued
Procedures and data collection
• You will have to describe how you intend to access your
target group, and contact your research participants. Is
your target group one that is typically difficult to involve
in research studies of your kind? If so, what steps will you
take to maximize your response rate, and minimize bias?
What method of data collection will you use? For
instance, if your proposed study involves the use of a
questionnaire, you should indicate to use a self-
completion version, or implement it in a face-to-face
situation, or via the telephone.
 Continued
Data analysis
• The researcher should indicate how the data to be
collected , organized, interpreted, and analyzed. You
should explain which statistical procedures and tests
you intend to use for quantitative-based studies, and
why you are choosing to do so. Similarly, if you
intend to conduct a qualitative research, you should
indicate the method of analysis you will use to
analyze the data. Perhaps you intend to quantify the
results obtained from your unstructured interview?
 Literature Review

• In a research proposal, the literature review is a partial

summary of previous work related to the focus of the
study. You will need to demonstrate to a review
committee that you are familiar with the major trends in
previous research as well as opinions on the topic, and
that you understand the relevance to your proposed
study.
• You need to review the literature comprehensively prior
to the development of your research proposal in order to
identify a research gap that will serve as a stimulus for
your study.
 Continued
• The space available for you to develop this in your research
proposal will be limited. You will therefore need to be
concise in your review. The literature review will:
• Provide you with a wide range of documentary information
on facts, opinions, and comments concerning the topic;
• Help you to discover whether the topic has already been
studied, and, if so, to what extent your work will be
affected;
• Help you to decide which research techniques will be most
appropriate for your study.
 Organization of the study
• Broadly, a component of the Organization of the Study is
to provide a map that may guide readers through the
reading and understanding of the dissertation. In this
activity, you will provide readers with a roadmap to your
dissertation that illustrates what they should expect: (a)
in how the study was organized and conducted; and (b)
in how the chapters ahead have been
sequenced/organized.
Generally, a component of the Organization of the Study
is to spotlight the organizational "sign posts" to look for
in the chapters that follow.
 Continued
• Specifically, a component of the Organization
of the Study is to briefly establish how each
chapter is constructed to achieve your
research objectives.
– How will you organize your study to systematically
address your research questions?
– How will your chapters be sequenced and
constructed to reflect the organization of your
study?