Comparative research is research in which the researcher attempts to answer questions in regard to the differences between two or more

groups. The design of comparative research contains specific characteristics that hold true across most forms of comparative research. These characteristics allow researchers to employ their research in an objective and statistically valid way.

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How to Write a Descriptive Research Design

The Descriptive Method of Research Design

1. Samples
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The samples of a comparative research design must represent the populations of interest. This means that the researcher must clearly define the populations that are to be compared. After defining these populations, the researcher must employ random sampling from these populations to avoid biasing the study. For example, in research investigating the differences between Japanese and Korean 18th-century literature, researchers determine samples through random sampling from all available texts from this period in these two countries.

Hypotheses
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Comparative research designs require clearly stated hypotheses. These hypotheses need not be initially right, but they must include all possibilities so that the researchers can validate or confirm them. Typically, researchers state these hypotheses in mathematical or statistical terms. For example, researchers may be interested in the length of texts of 18th-century East Asian literature. The hypothesis may be that Japanese 18th-century texts are longer than those of Korea. If this hypothesis is incorrect, then Korean 18th-century texts are equally long or longer; in other words, this hypothesis includes both possibilities---there is no third possibility.
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Methods
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Comparative research employs many methods to validate hypotheses. This diversity is an important feature of comparative research, because it gives researchers many different ways of performing analysis. However, all methods must have a way to validate or reject the researcher's hypothesis regarding the groups of interest. One popular method throughout scientific fields is that of Analysis of Variance, in which the between-group and within-group variances of the data are compared. Using these variance measures, researchers can then

determine which hypothesis is more likely to be correct. Other methods include paired tests, Analysis of Covariance and Multiple Analysis of Covariance.

Results
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The results of comparative research will state the answer to the hypothesis, the strength of the evidence and the implications of the results. Typically, a researcher will state whether the initial hypothesis should be rejected or kept and why. The "why" portion of the conclusion, the strength of the evidence, is usually answered with a p-value, which states the probability that a "wider" set of data would be found assuming that the original assumption was correct. The researcher then interprets the results of the analysis in the context of the problem.

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