Module -2 Research Design

Meaning, Significance and Types of research design-

Exploratory, Conclusive, Descriptive, Experimental, Case
Study, Mixed -method.
Research Design
Research design is the framework of research methods and techniques
chosen by a researcher to conduct a study. The design allows researchers
to sharpen the research methods suitable for the subject matter and set
up their studies for success
Importance of Research Design
1) Reduces Cost :
Research design is needed to reduce the excessive costs in terms of time, money and effort by
planning the research work in advance.

2) Facilitate the Smooth Scaling :

In order to perform the process of scaling smoothly, an efficient research design is of utmost
importance. It makes the research process effective enough to give maximum relevant outcome in an
easy way.

3) Helps in Relevant Data Collection and Analysis :

Research design helps the researchers in planning the methods of data collection and analysis as per
the objective of research. It is also responsible for the reliable research work as it is the foundation
for entire research. Lack of proper attention in preparation of research design can harm the entire
research work.
4) Assists in Smooth Flow of Research Operations :
Research design is necessary to give better and effective structure to the research. Since all the decisions are
made in advance, therefore, research design facilitates the smooth flow of research operations and reduces
the possible problems of researchers.

5) Helps in Getting Reviews from Experts :

Research design helps in developing an overview about the whole research process and thus assists in
getting responses and reviews from different experts in that field.

6) Provides a Direction to Executives :

Research design directs the researcher as well as the executives involved in the research for giving their
relevant assistance.
Types of Research Design
1) Exploratory Research Design :

Exploratory research design aims to get a better understanding of the problem by explaining the concepts and
developing hypotheses regarding the research study. Various techniques used in exploratory research study
are literature survey, surveys, focus groups, case studies, etc. Exploratory research does not emphasize upon
sampling, but tries to gather information from participants who are considered knowledgeable
Purpose of Exploratory Research
1. Information regarding the Immediate Conditions: The design offers
information relating to the conditions of the problem. When the researcher doesn’t
have resources and capacity to test the hypothesis he is in a position to discover
facts through exploratory design that is appropriate to or in compliance with the
hypothesis.

2. Presentations of Crucial Issues: Through exploratory and formulative designs,

you’ll be able to present crucial research problems. When the problems have been
presented, the researcher is automatically drawn towards the study of the difficulty
which has higher significance for our society.
3. Study of the Unknown Fields: For research, theory or hypothesis is
unavoidable. They offer appropriate basis. To be able to formulate a hypothesis, we
will need to obtain the related information and through exploratory design this task
is accomplished.
4. Theoretical Base: The research problem relates to our social life and social
problems and data about the subject could only be gathered through exploratory
design. This design is useful in offering a theoretical base to the hypothesis and
theories.
5.Presentation of uncertain problem for study in Research: Through exploratory
designs we can easily figure out these problems. This process on the one hand ,
focuses the attention of the researcher on the problem and, on the other, it assists
him to gather facts on scientific lines to ensure that research may be completed
correctly.
Methods of Exploratory Research
• Primary Resource
• Secondary Resource

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Primary Research Methods

In primary research methods, data is collected directly from the subject

of investigation
Some of the primary research methods used in exploratory research
include:
• Observations
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
Focus groups

• A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of

people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, and
attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or
packaging.
• Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants
are free to talk with other group members
Use a FOCUS GROUP when:

You don’t know what the issues are.

You want to hear a wide diversity of opinions.
You have a deep or complex issue you want to understand.
You are trying to develop some preliminary theories of why things are they way they are.
You want detailed information on a specific issue or problem area.
You want to hear about people’s deep feelings, insights and perceptions.
It is strategically or politically important to include a wide variety of opinions.
Some of your questions will require probing or prompting to elicit useful information.
People will need time to ponder the answers to your questions in order to provide thoughtful
responses.
Some people may not be sure how they feel until they have the opportunity to hear what others
have to say about the topic.
Solving the issue will require the insights or historical perspectives of people close to the issue.
Secondary Research Methods

Secondary sources are documents written after an event has occurred,

providing second hand accounts of that event, person, or topic

Examples include:
Journal and magazine articles
News reports
Encyclopaedias'
Textbooks
Books
Why use secondary sources?

• Secondary sources can provide you with background information and offer analysis of the event
or work by those removed one or more steps from the event or work itself.

• Scholarly articles are written by experts studying in a particular field, offering credibility to your
research by providing interpretation of material by scholars.

• Secondary sources look beyond a particular event or artefact and can broaden your perspective
and research.

• They can also provide historical perspective based on other events that have taken since the
original event or work.

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Literature search
• A literature review is a text of a scholarly paper, which includes the
current knowledge including substantive findings, as well as
theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic.
• Literature reviews use secondary sources, and do not report new or
original experimental work.
Process
• The process of reviewing the literature requires different kinds of
activities and ways of thinking.
• Link the activities of doing a literature review with Benjamin Bloom’s
revised taxonomy of the cognitive domain
GOALS OF LITERATURE REVIEWS
There are several different goals that literature reviewers may be trying to accomplish, and it is helpful to have
one’s goal clearly in mind while writing.
• Theory development:
The literature review is used to provide the context for describing, elaborating, and evaluating a new
theory or developing a theory by integrating the material reviewed.
• Theory evaluation:
The existing literature provides the data for assessing the merits of existing conceptualizations.
• Survey of the state of knowledge on a particular topic:
Provides a useful overview and integration of an area.
• Problem identification:
The review reveals problems, weaknesses, contradictions or controversies in a particular area.
• Historical account:
A review of the development of theory and research in an area.
STEPS TO PREPARE A LITERATURE REVIEW
Preparation of a literature review may be divided into four broad stages:
1. Define your topic: you must define your topic and components of your topic
2. Search for materials: use search tools (such as the library catalogue, databases,
bibliographies) to find materials about your topic
3. Evaluate what you have found: read and evaluate what you have found in order
to determine which material makes a significant contribution to the understanding
of the topic
4. Analysis and interpretation: provide a discussion of the findings and
conclusions of the pertinent literature
Literature Review Format
• Women’s small business leadership has been frequently compared with
men’s. Some claim that women’s and men’s business management skills
appear not to vary significantly (Birley, 1988; Carlsrud & Olm 1986).
Others, however, claim that women business-owners tend to lack
management skills, training or experience (Allen and Truman, 1993;
Thrasher and Smid, 1998), and good business plans (Alsos and
Ljunggren, 1998).

• The finding that women are more likely to be affected by context

(Croson & Gneezy, 2009; Miller & Ubeda, 2012) is well explained
through neuroscience.
CONCEPT EXISTING RESEARCH GAP
Types of •Time Pressures, Family Size and Support affects work-home role conflict {Stoner, Indian
Conflicts Hartman & Arora (1990)} Context
•Conflict is varying in intensity and range: mild difference, disagreement, dispute,
campaign, litigation & fight or war {Keltner (1987)}

Conflict • Several methods of ending conflicts {Boulding (1962)} Conflict

Resolution •Three forms of dealing with conflict: conflict settlement,conflict resolution, and & Stages
Styles conflict transformation {Reimann (2005)} of
•Ignoring or openly fighting the opposition can greatly weaken group structure Business
and group action {Parker (1974)}
•Mutual respect and reciprocal understanding will lead both parties toward Develop
sustainable and acceptable solution {Berndt/Speck (2000), Bläsi (2001)} ment

Gender and •Male and female conflict styles may converge at higher levels {Korabik et al} Gender
Conflict •Significant gender difference in conflict-management styles used by owners implicati
Resolution when dealing with subordinates in small businesses {Havenga (2008)} on on
Style •Women don’t use competitive tactics in negotiations for themselves. But when Conflict
negotiating on behalf of others, they are as competitive as men {Amanatullah
(2006)} Resoluti
•Males and females differ in conflict resolution approach / style {Holt and DeVore on at
(2005)} higher
•People adopt different conflict resolution styles, based on their gender levels
stereotypes {Papa and Natalle (1989), Jurma and Powell (1994), Lulofs (1994), (entrepr
Taylor and Miller (1994), Borisoff and Victor (1997), Wilmot and Hocker (1998)} eneurs)

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What is NOT a Literature review
• It is not a chronological catalogue of all of the sources, but an
evaluation, integrating the previous research together, and also
explaining how it integrates into the proposed research program.
• It is not a collection of quotes and paraphrasing from other sources.
• A good literature review should avoid the temptation of impressing the
importance of a particular research program
Experience survey
• An experience survey is a set of questions designed for the overall satisfaction of a
group of people who have shared a common experience.
Example
• How do you measure customer experience?
• Using online and paper surveys to get detailed customer feedback
• Finding your NPS score (when a customer is asked if they would recommend your
product or service)
• Use digital analytics tools to understand how customers interact with your website
• Measure customer satisfaction scores
• Analyze footfall to your premises and web traffic online
• Measure frequency of customer visits and their total spend
• Customer retention campaigns and analysis
Descriptive Research
• Descriptive research is all about describing people, Situation, product
who take part in the study.

• The descriptive research attempts to describe, explain and interpret

conditions of the present i.e. “what is’
Descriptive Research
• The purpose of a descriptive research is to examine a phenomenon that
is occurring at a specific place(s) and time.
• A descriptive research is concerned with conditions, practices,
structures, differences or relationships that exist, opinions held,
processes that are going on or trends that are evident.Traditionally,
descriptive research involves three main categories: observation, case
studies, and surveys.
Example: an apparel brand that wants to understand the fashion
purchasing trends among New York buyers will conduct a
demographic survey of this region
Types of descriptive research

• Observational Method
• Case Study Method- A case study is a research approach that is
used to generate an in-depth, multi-faceted understanding of a
complex issue in its real-life context. It is an established research
design that is used extensively in a wide variety of disciplines,
particularly in the social sciences
• Survey Research
Conclusive Research Design
The conclusive research design is used to obtain information that can be
used to reach conclusions or make decisions. The data collected in this
research design is generally quantitative in nature and therefore takes
distinct numerical values.
Cross sectional studies
Researchers conduct a cross-sectional survey to collect insights from a target audience at a particular
time interval. This survey research method is implemented in various sectors such as retail,
education, healthcare, SME businesses, etc. Cross-sectional studies can either be descriptive or
analytical. It is quick and helps researchers collect information in a brief period. Researchers rely on
the cross-sectional survey research method in situations where descriptive analysis of a subject is
required.
Example: U.S. Census or a police survey to discover what the primary concern of citizens is
Strengths
• Cost-efficient
• Fewer logistic problems
Disadvantages
• Tries to understand causal processes based on observations observed at one point in time
Longitudinal Studies
Longitudinal survey research involves conducting survey research over a continuum of time and
spread across years and decades. The data collected using this survey research method from one time
period to another is qualitative or quantitative. Respondent behavior, preferences, and attitudes are
continuously observed over time to analyze reasons for a change in behavior or preferences. For
example, suppose a researcher intends to learn about the eating habits of teenagers.
Ex: In that case, he/she will follow a sample of teenagers over a considerable period to ensure that
the collected information is reliable. Often, cross-sectional survey research follows a longitudinal.
Strengths
• Better for testing causal processes
• Allow for more in-depth understanding of behavior
Weaknesses
• Expensive
• Logistically more complicated and time consuming
• Attrition (losing respondents)
Experimental Research Design
• Experimental research is research conducted with a scientific approach
using two sets of variables. The first set acts as a constant, which you
use to measure the differences of the second set
Types of experimental design
Pre-experimental
A pre-experimental study is not truly experimental, but it is included in
this category because it may precede an experimental study. Researchers
may conduct pre-experimental investigations to determine whether a
full experimental study is necessary. For example, researchers may
conduct a survey to gather data that shows an interesting correlation
between variables. They may then conduct an experimental study to
focus on that specific relationship.
Quasi-experimental design
• The word “Quasi” indicates similarity. A quasi-experimental study is
similar to an experimental study, but lacks random selection and
random assignment of participants/subjects. An example of a quasi-
experimental study would be comparing the reading skills between
two classes. Perhaps one group uses a printed book and the other uses
an electronic version of the same book. A researcher could compare
the skills of the groups, but this is not a true experiment.
True experimental design
• A true experimental study is considered to provide the most robust
results, and it has the most rigorous requirements. The requirements
for a true experiment will be presented next.
Key Components of Experimental Study Design

• Hypothesis : prediction
• Independent variable: The independent variable is what the
researcher will change or manipulate. The independent variable may
be thought of as the cause in a cause-and-effect relationship.
• Dependent variable: The dependent variable is the variable that
might change as a result of manipulation of the independent variable.
The dependent variable is where the effect may be observed. Its
outcome is dependent on the manipulation of the independent variable.
Mixed –method research design
• A mixed methods research design is a procedure for. collecting,
analyzing, and “mixing” both quantitative and qualitative research and
methods in a single study to understand a research problem.