RESEARCH DESIGN

Definition of research design

Kerlinger, N.F (1986) defines research design as

 “ The plan and structure of investigation so conceived as to obtain answers to research questions. The plan is overall scheme or program of the research. It includes an outline of what the investigator will do from writing hypotheses and their operational implications to the final analysis of data….a research design expresses both the structure of the research problem and the plan of investigation used to obtain empirical evidence on relations of the problem”

Therefore a research design is the strategy for a study and the plan by which the strategy is to be carried out. It specifies the methods and procedures for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data.

ESSENTIALS OF RESEARCH DESIGN

The design:

Ø  Is an activity and time based plan

Ø  Is always based on the research question

Ø  Guides the selection of sources and types of information

Ø  Is a framework for specifying the relationships among the study’s variables

Ø  Outlines procedures for every research activity.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF DESIGNS

Research can be classified using eight different descriptors as shown in the table below:

Category	Options
The degree to which the research questions has been crystallized	Ø  Exploratory study Ø  Formal study
The method of data collection	Ø  Monitoring Ø  Interrogation / communication
The power of the researcher to produce effects in the variables under study	Ø  Experimental Ø  Ex post facto
The purpose of the study	Ø  Descriptive Ø  Causal
The time dimension	Ø  Cross-sectional Ø  Longitudinal
The topical scope – breath and depth of the study	Ø  Case Ø  Statistical study
The research environment	Ø  Field setting Ø  Laboratory research Ø  Simulation
The participants perceptions of research activity	Ø  Actual routine Ø  Modified routine

1.      Degree to which the research questions has been crystallized

A study may be viewed as exploratory study or formal study. The essential distinctions between these two options are the degree of structure and the immediate objective of the study.

Ø  Exploratory studies tend toward loose structures with the objective of discovering future research tasks. Its immediate purpose is to develop hypotheses or questions for further study.

Ø  Formal study begins where the exploration leaves off- it begins with a hypothesis or research question and involves precise procedures and data source specifications. Its goal is to test the hypotheses or answer the research questions posed.

2.      Method of data collection

Ø  Monitoring: It includes studies in which the researcher inspects the activities of a subject or the nature of some material without attempting to elicit responses from anyone e.g. an observation of the actions of a group of decision makers.

Ø  Interrogation / communication: the researcher questions the subjects and collects their responses by personal or impersonal means. The collected data may result from

                                i.          Interview or telephone conversations

                              ii.          Self-administered or self-reported instruments sent through the mail, left in convenient locations, or transmitted electronically or by other means

                            iii.          Instruments presented before and / or after a treatment or stimulus condition in an experiment.

3.      Researcher control of variables

Ø  Experimental: the researcher attempts to control and / or manipulate the variables in the study. It is appropriate when one wishes to discover whether certain variables produce effects in other variables. Experimentation provides the most powerful support for a hypothesis of causation.

Ø  Ex post facto: Investigators have no control over the variables in the sense of being able to manipulate them. They can only report what has happened or what is happening. It is important that the researcher’s using this design do not influence the variables since doing so will introduce bias. The researcher is limited to holding factors constant by judicious selection of subjects according to strict sampling procedures and by statistical manipulation of findings.

4.       Purpose of the study

Ø  Descriptive study: it is a research that is concerned with finding out who, what, where, when, or how much.

Ø  Causal study: It is concerned with learning why i.e. how one variable produces changes in another. It tries to explain the relationships among variables.

5.      The time dimension

Ø  Cross-sectional studies: they are carried out once and represent a snapshot of one point in time.

Ø  Longitudinal studies: are repeated over an extended period. It tracks changes over time.

6.      The topical scope

Ø  Statistical studies: they are designated for breadth rather than depth. They attempt to capture a population’s characteristics by making inferences from a sample’s characteristics. Hypotheses are tested quantitatively. Generalizations about findings are presented based on the representativeness of the sample and the validity of the design.

Ø  Case studies: they place more emphasis on a full contextual analysis of fewer events or conditions and their interrelations. Although hypotheses are often used, the reliance on qualitative data makes support or rejection more difficult. An emphasis on detail provides valuable insight for problem solving, evaluation and strategy. This detail is secured from multiple sources of information. It allows evidence to be verified and avoids missing data.

7.      The research environment

Ø  Field setting: it is where the research occurs under actual environmental conditions

Ø  Laboratory research: it is where the research occurs under staged or manipulated conditions

Ø  Simulation: To simulate is to replicate the essence of a system or process. Simula

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 are increasingly used in operations research. The major characteristics of various conditions and relationships in actual situations are often represented in mathematical models. Role-playing and other behavioural activities may also be viewed as simulations.

8.      Participants’ perceptions

The usefulness of a design may be reduced when people in a disguised study perceive that research is being conducted. Participants’ perceptions influence the outcomes of the research in subtle ways. There are three levels of perception:

Ø  Participants perceive no deviations from everyday routines

Ø  Participants perceive deviations, but as unrelated to the researcher.

Ø  Participants perceive deviations as researcher-induced.

In all research environments and control situations, researchers need to be vigilant to effects that may alter their conclusions. Participant’s perceptions serve as a reminder to classify one’s study by type, to examine validation strengths and weaknesses and to be prepared to qualify results accordingly.

MAJOR TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN

 (a)      Exploratory studies

Exploration is particularly useful when researchers lack a clear idea of the problems they will meet during the study. Through exploration researchers develop concepts more clearly, establish priorities, develop operational definitions and improve the final research design. Other factors that necessitate the use of exploration are

Ø  To save time and money

Ø  If the area of investigation is new

Ø  Important variables may not be known or thoroughly defined

Ø  Hypothesis for the research may be needed

Ø  A researcher can explore to be sure if it is practical to do a formal study in the area.

Despite its obvious value, researchers and managers give exploration less attention that it deserves. Exploration is sometimes linked to old biases about qualitative research i.e. subjective ness, non-representativeness and non-systematic design.

When we consider the scope of qualitative research, several approaches are adaptable for exploratory investigations of management questions:

Ø  In-depth interviewing – usually conversational rather than structured.

Ø  Participant observation – to perceive first hand what participants in the setting experience

Ø  Films, photographs and videotapes – to capture the life of the group under study.

Ø  Case studies – for an in-depth contextual analysis of a few events or conditions

Ø  Document analysis – to evaluate historical or contemporary confidential or public records, reports, government documents and opinions.

Where these approaches are combined, four exploratory techniques emerge with wide applicability for the management researcher: -

                                i.          Secondary data analysis

                              ii.          Experience surveys

                            iii.          Focus groups

                            iv.          Two-stage designs

An exploratory research is finished when the researchers have achieved the following:

Ø  Established the major dimensions of the research task

Ø  Defined a set of subsidiary investigative questions that can be used as a guide to a detailed research design.

Ø  Developed several hypotheses about possible causes of a management dilemma. Learned that certain other hypotheses are such remote possibilities that they can be safely ignored in any subsequent study.

Ø  Concluded additional research is not needed or is not feasible.

 (b)      Descriptive Studies

It is the process of collecting data in order to test hypotheses or to answer questions concerning the current status of the subjects in the study. It determines and reports the way things are. It attempts to describe such things as possible behaviour, attitudes, values and characteristics.

 (c)       Causal Research

It is used to explore relationships between variables. It determines reasons or causes for the current status of the phenomenon under study. The variables of interest cannot be manipulated unlike in experimental research.

Advantages of causal study

Ø  Allows a comparison of groups without having to manipulate the independent variables

Ø  It can be done solely to identify variables worthy of experimental investigation

Ø  They are relatively cheap.

Disadvantages of causal study

Ø  Interpretations are limited because the researdoes not know whether a particular variable is a cause or result of a behaviour being studied.

Ø  There may be a third variable which could be affecting the established relationship but which may not be established in the study.

 (d)      Correlation Methods

It describes in quantitative terms the degree to which variables are related. It explores relationships between variables and also tries to predict a subject’s score on one variable given his or her score on another variable.

Advantages of the correlational method

Ø  Permits one to analyze inter-relationships among a large number of variables in a single study.

Ø  Allows one to analyze how several variables either singly or in combination might affect a particular phenomenon being studied.

Ø  The method provides information concerning the degree of relationship between variables being studied.

Disadvantages of the correlational method

Ø  Correlation between two variables does not necessarily imply causation although researchers often tend to interpret such a relationship to mean causation.

Ø  Since the correlation coefficient is an index, any two variables will always show a relationship even when commonsense dictates that such variables are not related.

Ø  The correlation coefficient is very sensitive to the size of the sample.