RESEARCH DESIGN :
(i) Method of research design:
Research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of
data in manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy
in procedure. In fact, the 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 online of what the researcher will do
from writing the hypothesis and its operational implications to the final analysis of data.
More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect of :
1. What is the study about?
2. What is the study being made?
3. What type of data is required?
4. Where can the required data be found?
5. What periods of times will study include?
6. What will be the sample design?
7. What techniques of data collection will be used?
8. How will data be analyzed?
9. In what style will the report be prepared?
(ii) Case study method :
The case study method is very popular from qualitative analysis and involves a
careful and complete observation of a social unit, be that unit a person, family, an
institution, a cultural group or even the entire community. It is a method of study in
depth rather than breadth. The case study places more emphasis on the full analysis of
a limited number of events or conditions and their interrelations. The case study deals
with the processes that take place and their inter relationship.
Broadly speaking research design refers to the visualization of the entire process
of conducting empirical research before it commencement. It is possible to design a
research project beforehand if the investigator is aware of the major stages and
techniques in conducting research and of the purpose of the investigation. Although in
its complete formulation every research design is unique, it resembles all other designs
in the broad outline of conducting research. On the other hand, research designs aimed
at fulfilling different research purposes differ from one another in some of their salient
features. An attempt is made here to present a skeletal description of the major types
of research designs in terms of their salient common features as well as distinguishing
characteristics.
(iii) Main steps in research design :
The broad outline of the design of a research study may be spelt out in the
following main steps:
1. Formulation of the research problem.
2. Decision about a suitable population for the study and setting down the sampling
3. Devising tools and techniques for gathering data.
4. Determination of the mode of administering the study.
5. Setting the arrangements for the editing, coding and processing of data.
6. Indicating the procedures and the statistical indices for the analysis of data
7. Deciding about the mode of presentation of the research report.
In the preparation of research design, the first step, namely, the formulation of
the problem of research, is a crucial one because it is at this stage that the purpose of
procedure.
the research is classified and specified, which then suggest the suitable alternatives at
the subsequent steps. This step is also the most creative aspect of the research
endeavour, when the discovery of the tentative solution of the problem is made and the
hypotheses are deduced.
It may be recalled that the proper designing of the various stages of conducting
research is contingent upon a clearcut formulation of the problem. But in this case, for
want of such an exercise, the other steps of conducting the study cannot be properly
charted. Consequently the researcher is obliged to explore the different possibilities to
the best of his ability, drawing liberally upon his own ingenuity. Hence the title –
exploratory study – given to such a research design. It is also called formulative study
because its main purpose itself is to formulate the problem more clearly.
Research procedures in general have to be reliable, accurate and systematic.
But in the case of an exploratory study the investigator is not bound down by such
conditions, his main purposes being to gain insight into the problem and to arrive at
some hypotheses somehow.
Even though it is not possible to lay down clearcut procedures, the investigator
may follow some general guidelines in carrying out his exploratory study, for instance,
re review of the related social science and other pertinent literature might give some
clues for guiding the direction of his inquiry. He can benefit from the discussion of his
problem with some of the persons who have practical experience in the given area.
Analysis of some of the cases from the relevant population, which are strikingly different
from one another, is useful for stimulating his insights. The study has to be pursued until
the investigator comes up with a reasonably satisfactory solution of the problem.
The descriptive study is aimed at measuring the different aspects of a
phenomenon or the characteristics of a population, accurately. The systematic
collection of the existing information from a set of people is known as a survey.
Therefore, the survey or social survey is another name for the descriptive study. It is
mainly a fact finding study.
Since the information from a descriptive study is aimed at an accurate description
of the various characteristics of a population or examining the relationships among the
different characteristics or variables, every step in this research design has to be very
carefully worked out. In the formulation of the problem the objectives of the study and
the different dimensions of the phenomenon to be described, should be clearly indicated
and defined. The variables involved should be operationalised so that their
measurement becomes practicable.
Utmost attention should be paid to the demarcation of the universe or the
population and the procedures for the selection of the sample. Since it is possible to
obtain the information about the characteristics of a population by studying a section
population, in most studies it is only a section which is taken up for investigation and not
the whole of the population. But there are important conditions to be satisfied. First of all
the section must be representative of the total population. A representative section of
the population is known as sample. Second, the sample must be chosen randomly. It is
only from the study of a random sample that it is possible to estimate the characteristics
of a population from the measures of the characteristics of its sample. Since the
descriptive studies are mostly based on samples they are also called sample surveys or
cross sectional surveys. When a descriptive study embraces the total population it is
called a census.
The tools of data collection should be objective, precise and systematic so that
different researchers collecting information from the same persons should arrive at the
same results. As far as possible the information should be such that it is amenable to
quantification. Preparation of scales and indices come in handy for this purpose.
In many descriptive studies involving large samples, teams of research workers
need to be engaged. In such eventualities thought has to be given to the specification of
the types and number of personnel, to their training and to matters pertaining to
supervision and coordination. Unless the work is strictly supervised, the involvement of
a large staff is likely to result in a proliferation of errors.
Accuracy and reliability are needed not only at the time of collection of data but
more so at the state of their processing. Conditioning vary depending upon whether the
processing is done manually or mechanically.
Statistical techniques and indices are often used for the analysis of data. In the
case of sample surveys statistical inference is also necessary for estimating the
characteristics of the population from those of the sample.
The mode of presentation of the results and writing of the report depends upon
the audience in view. Among other matters attention has to be paid to the language,
style and the length of the presentation.
In the descriptive study design every step can be visualized before launching the
empirical investigation. Therefore, it is possible to work out in advance the approximate
outlay on the research project.
(iv) Experimental or explanatory studies :
Scientific knowledge is aimed at answering three kinds of questions: What is it,
how is it, and why is it? The answer to the question “why” is actually the explanation of
the phenomenon in question, and represents the most refined form of knowledge. The
descriptive study design is aimed at answering the questing , “what is it”. It describes a
given state of affairs. The explanatory knowledge, however, is usually formulated in a
theoretical model in a set of deductively related propositions. But the validation of such
a model depends upon testing hypotheses deduced from it. Hypotheses of this kind
affirm cause and effect relationship between two variables, which represent the answer
to the question, “how is it”.
The experimental design differs from the descriptive study design, among other
respects, in two important ways in as much as the groups studied need not be
representative of their population and the variables under investigation are manipulated.
Therefore, the term sample survey is not applied to be experimental study. It has been
pointed out that there are different ways of designing an experimental study subject to
the adherence of the same logic of experiment.
The requirements of studying changes in the characteristics of a population, with
their causal basis, are met to some extent by the panel study. The panel method
involves recruiting a sample of individuals representing the universe or population to be
studied, and interviewing them at two or more different points of time, on the problems
under consideration. The same group of individuals which is studied at different points
of time is called the panel.
The panel study resembles the sample survey insofar as the panel is also a
representative sample of the population, but it is different from sample surveys
conducted at different points of time as in these studies; unlike the panel study, fresh
samples the experimental study insofar as the same group is studied more than once,
but unlike the experimental study it does not resort to the controlling of the variables.
In the panel study the core questions of the inquiry are repeated at every
interview, but at every time new questions are also added. Since it is the same group of
individuals which is studied at two or more points of time, at any subsequent point of
time it is possible to identify the individuals who have changed and also to find out the
reasons for their change. Thus the panel study enables us to measure the real change
as well as to ascertain the causes. Since the panel is representative of the population,
from the results of the panel study one can estimate the change in the characteristics of
the population.
(i) Method of research design:
Research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of
data in manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy
in procedure. In fact, the 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 online of what the researcher will do
from writing the hypothesis and its operational implications to the final analysis of data.
More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect of :
1. What is the study about?
2. What is the study being made?
3. What type of data is required?
4. Where can the required data be found?
5. What periods of times will study include?
6. What will be the sample design?
7. What techniques of data collection will be used?
8. How will data be analyzed?
9. In what style will the report be prepared?
(ii) Case study method :
The case study method is very popular from qualitative analysis and involves a
careful and complete observation of a social unit, be that unit a person, family, an
institution, a cultural group or even the entire community. It is a method of study in
depth rather than breadth. The case study places more emphasis on the full analysis of
a limited number of events or conditions and their interrelations. The case study deals
with the processes that take place and their inter relationship.
Broadly speaking research design refers to the visualization of the entire process
of conducting empirical research before it commencement. It is possible to design a
research project beforehand if the investigator is aware of the major stages and
techniques in conducting research and of the purpose of the investigation. Although in
its complete formulation every research design is unique, it resembles all other designs
in the broad outline of conducting research. On the other hand, research designs aimed
at fulfilling different research purposes differ from one another in some of their salient
features. An attempt is made here to present a skeletal description of the major types
of research designs in terms of their salient common features as well as distinguishing
characteristics.
(iii) Main steps in research design :
The broad outline of the design of a research study may be spelt out in the
following main steps:
1. Formulation of the research problem.
2. Decision about a suitable population for the study and setting down the sampling
3. Devising tools and techniques for gathering data.
4. Determination of the mode of administering the study.
5. Setting the arrangements for the editing, coding and processing of data.
6. Indicating the procedures and the statistical indices for the analysis of data
7. Deciding about the mode of presentation of the research report.
In the preparation of research design, the first step, namely, the formulation of
the problem of research, is a crucial one because it is at this stage that the purpose of
procedure.
the research is classified and specified, which then suggest the suitable alternatives at
the subsequent steps. This step is also the most creative aspect of the research
endeavour, when the discovery of the tentative solution of the problem is made and the
hypotheses are deduced.
It may be recalled that the proper designing of the various stages of conducting
research is contingent upon a clearcut formulation of the problem. But in this case, for
want of such an exercise, the other steps of conducting the study cannot be properly
charted. Consequently the researcher is obliged to explore the different possibilities to
the best of his ability, drawing liberally upon his own ingenuity. Hence the title –
exploratory study – given to such a research design. It is also called formulative study
because its main purpose itself is to formulate the problem more clearly.
Research procedures in general have to be reliable, accurate and systematic.
But in the case of an exploratory study the investigator is not bound down by such
conditions, his main purposes being to gain insight into the problem and to arrive at
some hypotheses somehow.
Even though it is not possible to lay down clearcut procedures, the investigator
may follow some general guidelines in carrying out his exploratory study, for instance,
re review of the related social science and other pertinent literature might give some
clues for guiding the direction of his inquiry. He can benefit from the discussion of his
problem with some of the persons who have practical experience in the given area.
Analysis of some of the cases from the relevant population, which are strikingly different
from one another, is useful for stimulating his insights. The study has to be pursued until
the investigator comes up with a reasonably satisfactory solution of the problem.
The descriptive study is aimed at measuring the different aspects of a
phenomenon or the characteristics of a population, accurately. The systematic
collection of the existing information from a set of people is known as a survey.
Therefore, the survey or social survey is another name for the descriptive study. It is
mainly a fact finding study.
Since the information from a descriptive study is aimed at an accurate description
of the various characteristics of a population or examining the relationships among the
different characteristics or variables, every step in this research design has to be very
carefully worked out. In the formulation of the problem the objectives of the study and
the different dimensions of the phenomenon to be described, should be clearly indicated
and defined. The variables involved should be operationalised so that their
measurement becomes practicable.
Utmost attention should be paid to the demarcation of the universe or the
population and the procedures for the selection of the sample. Since it is possible to
obtain the information about the characteristics of a population by studying a section
population, in most studies it is only a section which is taken up for investigation and not
the whole of the population. But there are important conditions to be satisfied. First of all
the section must be representative of the total population. A representative section of
the population is known as sample. Second, the sample must be chosen randomly. It is
only from the study of a random sample that it is possible to estimate the characteristics
of a population from the measures of the characteristics of its sample. Since the
descriptive studies are mostly based on samples they are also called sample surveys or
cross sectional surveys. When a descriptive study embraces the total population it is
called a census.
The tools of data collection should be objective, precise and systematic so that
different researchers collecting information from the same persons should arrive at the
same results. As far as possible the information should be such that it is amenable to
quantification. Preparation of scales and indices come in handy for this purpose.
In many descriptive studies involving large samples, teams of research workers
need to be engaged. In such eventualities thought has to be given to the specification of
the types and number of personnel, to their training and to matters pertaining to
supervision and coordination. Unless the work is strictly supervised, the involvement of
a large staff is likely to result in a proliferation of errors.
Accuracy and reliability are needed not only at the time of collection of data but
more so at the state of their processing. Conditioning vary depending upon whether the
processing is done manually or mechanically.
Statistical techniques and indices are often used for the analysis of data. In the
case of sample surveys statistical inference is also necessary for estimating the
characteristics of the population from those of the sample.
The mode of presentation of the results and writing of the report depends upon
the audience in view. Among other matters attention has to be paid to the language,
style and the length of the presentation.
In the descriptive study design every step can be visualized before launching the
empirical investigation. Therefore, it is possible to work out in advance the approximate
outlay on the research project.
(iv) Experimental or explanatory studies :
Scientific knowledge is aimed at answering three kinds of questions: What is it,
how is it, and why is it? The answer to the question “why” is actually the explanation of
the phenomenon in question, and represents the most refined form of knowledge. The
descriptive study design is aimed at answering the questing , “what is it”. It describes a
given state of affairs. The explanatory knowledge, however, is usually formulated in a
theoretical model in a set of deductively related propositions. But the validation of such
a model depends upon testing hypotheses deduced from it. Hypotheses of this kind
affirm cause and effect relationship between two variables, which represent the answer
to the question, “how is it”.
The experimental design differs from the descriptive study design, among other
respects, in two important ways in as much as the groups studied need not be
representative of their population and the variables under investigation are manipulated.
Therefore, the term sample survey is not applied to be experimental study. It has been
pointed out that there are different ways of designing an experimental study subject to
the adherence of the same logic of experiment.
The requirements of studying changes in the characteristics of a population, with
their causal basis, are met to some extent by the panel study. The panel method
involves recruiting a sample of individuals representing the universe or population to be
studied, and interviewing them at two or more different points of time, on the problems
under consideration. The same group of individuals which is studied at different points
of time is called the panel.
The panel study resembles the sample survey insofar as the panel is also a
representative sample of the population, but it is different from sample surveys
conducted at different points of time as in these studies; unlike the panel study, fresh
samples the experimental study insofar as the same group is studied more than once,
but unlike the experimental study it does not resort to the controlling of the variables.
In the panel study the core questions of the inquiry are repeated at every
interview, but at every time new questions are also added. Since it is the same group of
individuals which is studied at two or more points of time, at any subsequent point of
time it is possible to identify the individuals who have changed and also to find out the
reasons for their change. Thus the panel study enables us to measure the real change
as well as to ascertain the causes. Since the panel is representative of the population,
from the results of the panel study one can estimate the change in the characteristics of
the population.
