Chapter-Five

Research Design
and
Data Analysis

01/01/2024 Chapter 5 & 6 Data Analysis And Research 1

Report Writing
 MEANING OF RESEARCH DESIGN
A research design is the conceptual structure within which research is
conducted; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection,
measurement and analysis of data.
As such the design includes an outline of what the researcher will do
from writing the hypothesis and its operational implications to the
final analysis of data.
More explicitly, the designing decisions happen to be in respect of:
i. What is the study about?
ii. Why is the study being made?
iii. Where will the study be carried out?
iv. What type of data is required?
v. Where can the required data be found?
vi. What periods of time will the study include?
vii. What will be the sample design?
viii. What techniques of data collection will be used?
ix.
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How will the data be analyzed?
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x. In what style will the report be prepared?
Important features of a research design are:
 It is a plan that specifies the sources and types of information
relevant to the research problem.
 It is a strategy specifying which approach will be used for gathering
and analyzing the data.
 It also includes the time and cost budgets since most studies are
done under these two constraints.
 It facilitates the smooth sailing of the various research operations,
thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal
information with minimal expenditure of effort, time and money.
In brief, research design must, at least, contain—(a) a clear statement
of the research problem; (b) procedures and techniques to be used
for gathering information; (c) the population to be studied; and (d)
methods to be used in processing and analyzing data.

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 Features Of A Good Design
A good design is often characterized by adjectives like flexible,
appropriate, efficient, economical and so on. Generally, the
design which minimizes bias and maximizes the
reliability of the data collected and analyzed is considered a
good design.
A research design appropriate for a particular research
problem, usually involves the consideration of the following
factors:
i. the means of obtaining information;
ii. the availability and skills of the researcher and his staff, if
any;
iii. the objective of the problem to be studied;
iv. the nature of the problem to be studied; and
v. the availability of time and
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money for the research work. 4
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 Data Processing, Analysis & Interpretation
Having collected the data, the final stage of the
research process consists of making sense of the
findings, first for yourself, then for a wider
audience.
 Analysis means establishing what the findings are
and how they answer the research questions,
 Interpretation means understanding the findings in
terms of their broader implications,
 Dissemination means communicating them to other
people.
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Concepts and Nature of Data Analysis
The data has to be processed and analyzed in accordance
with the purpose and the research plan.
Technically speaking, processing implies editing, coding,
classification and tabulation of collected data so that they
are amenable to analysis.
The term analysis refers to the computation of certain
measures along with searching for patterns of relationship
that exist among data-groups.
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 Analysis of data involves a number of closely related
operations for summarizing the collected data and
organizing to answer the research questions.
• Analysis of data comes prior to interpretation. But these
two operations are so mixed up that they cannot be
regarded as two separate operations.
• The purpose of analysis is to build up a sort of
intellectual model where the relationship involved are
carefully brought out & some meaningful inferences can
be drawn.
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• Analysis of data is to be made with reference to the
research problem at hand or the hypothesis and the purpose
of the study.
• Some do not like to make difference between processing
and analysis.
• Some authors consider processing a necessary prerequisite
for analysis. But many maintain that analysis of data
involves processing. In other words, these two operations
can be simultaneously done.
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• Analysis is made to finding out a systematic theory and
some basis for a broader generalization.
• Before starting to analyze survey results, take a look at
and must ask yourself the following questions:
– What objectives where I trying to accomplish when you created
your survey?
– Did my survey instruments meet those objectives?
– Is the data I collected the right data?
– Do I have sufficient data to properly reach a conclusion?

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 Major Data Analysis Steps
Data analysis involves the following inter-related
steps:
1. Quick review: the first step in the analysis is a
critical examination of assembled data.
 The process begins with a quick review of the
results. It can tell you lots about your project
including any flaws in questionnaire design or
response of the population.
 By this process, look at every question and see if
the results make sense.
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2. Editing: is a process of examining the collected raw data
to detect errors and omissions, incomplete and duplicate
responses and to correct these when possible based on the
quick review.
• Discard if the respondents did not complete enough of the
survey to be meaningful.
• Editing is done to assure that the data are accurate,
consistent with other facts gathered, uniformly entered, as
completed as possible and have been well arranged to
facilitate
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 3. Classification (Categorization)
• Classification refers to reducing a large volume of raw
data into homogeneous groups if we are to get meaningful
relationships
• You must properly classify the data into required
categories according to certain similarities.
• The principle for classification has to be based on the
problem or the hypothesis.
• If the problem is the “extent of poverty”, income,
consumption, saving, etc may be the required categories.
• If underdevelopment is being studied, labor required,
labor employed, intensity of work, actual yearly work
days, man-land ratios, wage and so on, it become the
essential categories.
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Proper set of categories must satisfy the following
conditions:
 There should be a single classificatory principle,
e.g., time of work, or income or man-land ratio
(for underdevelopment).
 The categories must be exhaustive and sufficient
for classifying all responses,
 The different categories must be distinct, separate
and hence mutually exclusive.
 The categories have to be independent and not
overlapping.

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 4. Coding
• Coding refers to the process of assigning numerals or other
symbols to answers so that responses can be put into a
limited number of categories or classes. Such classes should
be appropriate to the research problem under consideration.
Eg.1= employed 2= unemployed, 1= male 2= female
• The purpose of coding is to translate raw data into symbols
which may be counted and tabulated.
• There may be many difficulties in coding due to the
inadequacies of data, inefficiencies of the coder & lack of
editing or scrutiny/ inspection of the available data.
• Editing can be very helpful for coding and for the
improvement of the quality of data collection.
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 5. Tabulation
• When a mass of data has been assembled, it becomes
necessary for the researcher to arrange the same in a
logical order. This procedure is referred to as tabulation.
• Thus, tabulation is the process of summarizing raw data
and displaying the same in compact form (i.e., in the form
of statistical tables) for further analysis.
• Tabulation is an orderly arrangement of data in columns
and rows.
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Tabulation is essential for the following reasons:
1. For simplicity: reducing data to easily
manageable proportion. It conserves space and
reduces explanatory and descriptive statement to a
minimum.
2. For Clarity: identify the underlying trend. It
facilitates the process of comparison.
3. Practicality: It facilitates the summation of items
and the detection of errors and omissions. It
provides a basis for various statistical
computations.

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 1. Qualitative Data Analysis
• Documents
• Interviews
• Observations
• Questionnaires

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 2. Quantitative Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics
Variable frequencies, averages, ranges.
Inferential statistics
• Assessing the significance of your data and results.
Simple inter-relationships
• Cross-tabulation or correlation between two
variables.
Multivariate analysis
• Studying the linkages between more than two variables.

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 Descriptive statistics
1. For nominal or ordinal data
 Proportions
 Percentages
 Ratios
2. For interval or ratio data
a. Measures of central tendency:
 mean: total sum of values divided by the number
of cases
 median: the value of the middle case
 mode: the most frequently occurring value
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b. Measures of dispersion:
range: the difference between the
highest and lowest values
standard deviation: the square root of
the mean of the squared deviations
from the mean

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 Inferential statistics
Chi-square
• Function: to compare sets of values
• Assumptions: random sampling, nominal data
Kolmogorov-Smirnov
• Function: to compare two samples
• Assumptions: random sampling, ordinal data
Student’s t test
• Function: (a) single sample test of mean; (b) two
sample test of means
• Assumptions: random sampling, interval data,
normal distribution
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Commonly used multivariate analysis
techniques
Correlation analysis – measures the degree
and direction of relationships between
variables.
• Regression analysis – fits a model to a
data set, enabling the prediction of the value
of one (dependent) variable in terms of one
or more other (independent) variables.

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• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) –
measures how independent variables
interact with each other and impact upon
the dependent variable.
• Multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA) is used where there is more
than one dependent variable.
• Cluster analysis – groups cases together
into clusters on the basis of their
similarity in terms of the variables
measured.
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• Factor analysis – reduces a large
number of variables to a limited
number of factors, so that the
underlying relationships within the
data may be more easily assessed.
• Discriminant analysis – enables the
discrimination between groups on the
basis of predictive variables.

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 Interpretation of the Results

• There is no clear-cut dividing line between analysis and

interpretation.
• Interpretation refers to the generalization of results.

• Through interpretation, meanings and implications of the

study become clear.
• Analysis is not complete without interpretation; and
interpretation can not proceed without analysis.
• Both are thus interdependent. In fact interpretation can be
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conceived of as a part of analysis.
 Interpretations…

• It connects the findings with the theories or the

available stock of knowledge and
• Helps us to draw a number of useful inferences
from the study.
• Interpretation analyses the abstract relations in
more concrete terms & tries to unfold the reasons
for the existing type of relations/ findings.
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 Interpretation……
While interpreting, the following common pitfalls
should be carefully avoided:
• Falling to consider all significant factors
• Ignoring negative evidences
• Mistaking correlation for causation
• Comparing non-comparable data
• Generalizing from only a few cases (illicit
generalization- not allowed by law)
• Distorting interpretations to fit prejudice and
preconceived ideas

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 Drawing Conclusions and Recommendations
Drawing Conclusion
• In this section the researchers offer their decisions or
judgments concerning the problems investigated and
about the findings of the research.
• The main findings of the study can be presented
systematically,
• the limitation of the study may be discussed here, if not
already mentioned.
• It is important to make known the negative results just as
the positive ones. If the result is against the hypothesis, it
should be clearly stated.
• The inconclusive results may be useful for further
research and hence, have to be stated.

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 Conclusions……

• The implication of the study for the society, the

administrators and the authorities should be thoroughly
discussed.
• It is very essential to unfold carefully theoretical,
practical and the policy implications of a research.
• The researcher must bring into focus the relevant
questions that are still unanswered and the new
questions raise by the study.
• A good study must raise some new issues and new
questions and provide some suggestions for the kind of
research that would help to answer them.

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 Conclusion
• There are two components of conclusion
A. Conclusions based on evidence/data analysis: in this
conclusion, the evidence must support the data analysis. This
kind of conclusion is based on solid foundations. It is valid and
reliable as long as the analysis technique used is appropriate.
B. Conclusions based on speculation and experiences gained
• It understands things without evidences and by intuition and
belief. It is just giving ones own comment about the problem.
• This kind of conclusion is also legitimate, needed and important
but don’t mix with the first one.
• The researcher has an obligation to distinguish conclusions based
on evidences from conclusions based on experiences and
intuition.
• The readers must know from where the conclusions are derived.
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 Recommendations/Some Policy Implications

Finally our research must lead us to a certain

recommendations or relevant policy implications. In
most cases, recommendations are given:
• Concerning measures or actions to be taken and
resources required to overcome the problem
investigated. But the policy implication should be
applicable.
• Concerning areas requiring further research in
relation to the problem that is investigated
• Concerning improvements required in the
methodological procedures, techniques of research
design as well as methods of data collection and data
analysis.
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 Research Report Writing
• Presentation of research findings in the form of a
report is a necessary part of the research process.
• The main purpose of report is to convey the
whole result of the study to the interested
readers/users in sufficient details, so that new
findings or new methods of analysis can be
incorporated into the general store of knowledge
available in the area.
• Since communication and science are very
important, the research result must be
communicated to others through good report.
• A report may be meant for the general readers,
evaluators, sponsors and experts in the field for
critical examination of the achievements made.
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 Reports and Classification
Because of a multiplicity of reports, it is
difficult to classify them in rigidly defined
categories. But roughly we can classify
reports into two types:
a. Reports other than standard research/
scientific report: this includes various kinds of
writing that are not necessarily based on
evidences and organized scientific research.
• The evidence is not well documented and not
well acknowledged. In other words, it does
not satisfy the scientific convention or
standards of research report.
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 Reports…..
b.Standard research report/scientific report:
• they are written and presented based on
evidences and organized scientific research
results.
• All materials used are well acknowledged.
• This form of report has certain essential
components which are logically arranged. In
short, this type of report is based on
adequate, valid and reliable evidences and
well organized scientific investigation.
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Reports….
• Reports written according to scientific
standards are considered to be scientific
research reports.
• These include well-documented and
structured books, articles published in
reputable journals, senior essays and
dissertations for degree, progress reports and
final reports of major research projects.
• The evaluation of the research whether it is
scientific or non-scientific is determined by
the standards set by some institutions.
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 Chapter -6
Writing And Presenting The Research Report
or
The Structure (Contents) of Research Report
• Structure refer to the component parts of the research
report divided and logically arranged.
• There is no one and rigid structure to all types of report.
• Most standard research report consists of the following
aspects:
1. (*)Title -is the name of the report that we are going to
present. It must be short but sufficiently explanatory to
the readers to know what the report is about. It should
be clear & suggestive.

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 Structure of the Report…..
2.(*)Identification marks: usually includes the title, the
name of the author(s), department, address, organization
(RVU), the purpose (partial fulfillment of Master of
Arts/science degree) in ……………………….
3.Contents: refers to give a list of headings and sub-
headings which are numbered and arranged in their
logical sequences. The name given for the contents in
the text and in the content part attached to the report and
the pages given to them must be the same.
4. List of tables, illustrations, abbreviations: all the tables
and illustrations should be titled and numbered above
the tables and illustrations (Table 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and figure
2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc) and indicate the source at the bottom
of the table or illustrations.

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Structure of the Report…..
5.Preface/forward – rarely or not included in
students report.
• Preface is a short introduction to the report,
stating the subject and scope of the report
generally written by the author him/herself.
• A forward is very similar to the preface, but
written by a person other than the author about
the importance of the book and reports such as
senior essays unlike books rarely carry
forwards. In fact, preface and forward are not
necessary.
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Structure of the Report…..

6. Acknowledgements – may be included in the preface.

It is very important in all reports as in our Masters
thesis. It generally indicates or phrases the people
who contributed to the researcher. It must include all
persons who assisted in writing the report.
7. Abstract or summary/synopsis: it is a brief summary
restating the whole performance all over again briefly
and incisively. It is usually stated in 250-300 words
but not always compulsory. It is very short and
precise to express the major findings/results of the
research. Therefore, it may be taken as an abstract of
the entire work.
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 Structure of the Report….

8.(*)Introduction: is relatively more elaborated form

of abstract/preface. It is necessary to indicate why the
problem understudy was considered worth
investigating. In other words, the purpose, rational,
and scope of the study should be clearly indicated. In
this component things included are the outline of how
the work was carried out and the following sub-
components.
9. (*)Background of the problem: mention the
background information by relating the present study
with the earlier ones. The necessary historical
background or review of literature may be presented
in this section.
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 Structure of the Report…..
9.1.statement of the problem
9.3.research objective
9.4.research hypothesis/research question
9.5. Methodology and data set/data base: it should clearly
specify the method of data collection the analytical design
and the mathematical/statistical techniques that have been
employed for finding the results.
9.6. significance of the study
9.7.Scope and limitation (if any) of the study: the limitation of
the study may be presented either in the introduction or at
the end of the thesis under a sub-heading “Limitation of the
Study”.
• Some times the characteristics of the study area can be
included in this report component

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 Structure of the Report….
10. (*)the literature review—may be discussed in
the introduction as part of the background and
statement of the problem or as other separate
section.
 It should present the background information
available in the subject and indicate the reader
when you work.
 Stands in relation to the existing knowledge and
should highlight the key findings in your
subjects and appoint your reader with the
historical developments leading to the theme of
the work.
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 Structure of the Report…..
11. (*) Characteristics of the study area – may be
outlined in the introduction as the part of the problem
statement or background or as a separate section.
 It gives the general physical and human characteristics
of the study area by emphasizing the characteristics
more related to our research area/topic rather than
emphasizing on the whole things found in the study
area.
12. Body of the report: The analysis and interpretations
are done in this main body of the research report. This
component includes

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 Structure of the Report…..
13. Conclusions and recommendations: giving
judgments and policy implications/measures
concerning/based on our research findings
13.1. Conclusions
13.2. Recommendations
14.(*)Reference or bibliography: references are those
materials only cited in our research report whereas;
bibliography is all the cited and read materials to help in
designing and undertaking our research process.
15.Appendices (if any): may or may not be included in our
senior essays. It includes raw data; sample questionnaires,
sample interviews and very detailed information in the text
must be taken to appendices.
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Structure of the Report….
16. Glossary (if any): is the definition of
important terms and concepts that are used in
books but rarely found in students’ senior
essays, theses and dissertations.
17. Index: it gives the list of headings, topics and
sub-topics with their pages.
 If the person needs to read very specific
topics, he/she should go to the index and
select the one he/she needs.
 But seldom necessary or not in common research
works other than books with wide range of topics.
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 Structure of the Report…..
• The components of the research report identified
by asterisks (*) are also the components of the
research proposal.
• Research proposal in addition includes
(component stages) like breakdown of activities
and respective time tables as well as the total and
component costs of the research project at the end
of the research proposal, but before the reference.
Component stages means dividing the research
activities in different components.
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation
• There is no universally accepted method of writing a research
report.
• Much will depend on the topic of research, the degree of
sophistication introduced, the type and extent of the materials and
the techniques introduced, and above all, the wisdom/insight, skill
and imagination of the researcher.
• A research report is essentially a scientific document, and hence
must be clear, accurate and precise.
• Confusion, ambiguity, exaggeration and pomposity (arrogance or
overconfidence) must be carefully guarded by a researcher.
• The very sensitive aspect of a research report is its language. The
researcher must have sufficient control over the language, its
literature, grammar and composition.

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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation….

• An ideal language and style, however, cannot be

formally taught, but one has to acquire them by
experiences, intuition, care and practice. Generally, care
should be given on clarity, correct exposition, expression
and simplicity. To this end, use plain words—simple and
familiar words by avoiding jargons; avoid
circumlocutions – using many unnecessary words;
careful in using spellings; use proper punctuations and
capitalizations in the appropriate place.
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation….
• The report should be free from subjective bias. The result
should be objectively presented in a balanced way.
Repetition of facts and statements has to be eliminated at
any cost.
• The presentation of facts must be logical. In this regard,
knowledge of deductive and inductive logic is an
additional advantage to a writer. Since logic is the basis of
all sciences, a researcher must have knowledge of logical
principles.
• While writing the report, the relevant diagrams, graphs,
tables and charts should be properly placed so that they
become immediately part of the texts where they are
placed.
• They should have appropriate titles and dimensions. Tables and
diagrams should be numbered, and where necessary the sources of
tabulated data should be specifically mentioned.
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation….
• The report should be presented in an attractive
form, i.e., typing should be accurate, neat and
clean and with sufficient margins on all sides of
the typed paper (2.5cm is the recommended
margin).
• All the pages must be numbered.
• With regard to spacing, most writers use double
spacing, which has good appearance and easy to
correct but uneconomical. Using single space
writings is highly congested. 1.5 spacing is also
used.
• The report must make use of sub-headings at
appropriate places of discussion.
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation….
• For referring to quotations and used works and
for clarifying meanings, footnotes are to be used
in a report. They can be consecutively
numbered and explained at the bottom margin
of the relevant page.
• Avoid plagiarisms: taking information, ideas
and findings of others as ones own work is very
serious academic theft. However, taking the
information, ideas and methods is allowed if it
is well-acknowledged and paraphrased.

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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation….
We can use the works of others in the following ways:
• By paraphrasing source information: is
shortening the very long paragraph of others to be
included in our research. When we paraphrase the
paragraph from other sources, do not change the
original meaning of the paragraph.
• By taking direct quotations: is directly taking
the information of others by using quotation
marks or indentations. If the information included
in the text is less than 4 lines, we can put it in
quotation mark.
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation……
• For example, “…… the stress although smaller than
estimated 1”. Whereas, if it is more than 4 lines, we should
put it in indentation with italicized styles in single spaces
and small font sizes.
• At the bottom write the name of the author, the book and
the page.
• The most familiar way of writing the quotation now a days
is writing the author, year and page numbers.
• If one author writes different materials we can separate it
by a, b and c. eg. Bekele, 1980a, 1980b, etc.
• A footnote is indicated by a superscript (raised number)
either over a sentence or a particular word.
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation….

• By convention, the books and journals cited in

the footnotes and in the bibliography are
underlined or bolded.
• In the event of publication of the report, the
underlined portions are printed in italics.
• For saving time and space, different
abbreviations are used in footnotes.
• E.g. Ibid. The general style of footnoting is as
follows:

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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation…..
• While writing footnotes, the names of articles/research
papers are kept, by convention, within inverted comma.
(“……”).
• In book references, the name of the writer is followed by
the name of his/her work; then come the name of the
publisher, place and year of publication and the relevant
page number.
• In the case of articles, the name of the publishing journal
and year and month of publications are to be mentioned.
• When there are many writers, one can use ‘et’al’ (others)
after one author.
• The writer should explain the footnote either at the same
page where the footnote occurs or at the end of the
chapter.
• A few example of the style of writing footnotes are given
below:
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 Some General Remarks on Style and Presentation

 It is advisable to prepare a first draft of the report for

critical considerations and possible amendments.
 Drafting is an art. The first draft has to be critically
scanned by the researcher himself, and if possible, by
other experts in the field.
 The experts can give their suggestions and constructive
comments in the light of which the report can be finally
amended, retyped and presented.
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The process of self criticism has to be thorough
and critical and through this, it is always possible
to find some better expressions, more appropriate
words and clearer method of exposition.
Thus, basically, there are three problems in
writing (1) how to begin (2) how to carry on (3)
how to a close.
A good writer, like a good artist, must know
where to end.
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 End Of
Chapter 5 & 6

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