Research Design and

Methods
Research Design
FEKD62

Ralf Müller
Tomas Blomquist
School of Business and Economics
Umeå University

Research Design

• framework or plan for a study

• Used as a guide in collecting and
analysing data
• A blueprint, followed in completing a
study

1
 Types of Research Design

• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal
Note:
• The distinctions are not absolute – a study
may serve several purposes
• The design of the investigation should stem
from the problem

Churchill 1999

Relationships of Research Designs

Descriptive
Research

Exploratory
Research

Causal
Research

Churchill 1999

2
 Exploratory Research

Purpose of exploratory research:

• Formulating a problem for more precise investigation
and for developing hypotheses
• Establishing priorities for further research
• Gathering information about the practical problems of
carrying out research on particular conjectural
statements
• Increasing the analyst’s familiarity with the problem
• Clarifying concepts

Churchill 1999

Exploratory Research

… is appropriate to any problem about which little is

known
… is to develop tentative explanations, not
demonstrating the viability of a given explanation
… is characterized by flexibility in methodology use
… is particularly indicated for:
• Literature search
• Experience surveys
• Focus groups
• Analysis of selected cases

Churchill 1999

3
 Literature Search in Exploratory
Research

• Easy way to discover hypotheses in the work

of others
• May involve conceptual literature, trade
literature and / or published statistics
• Serves for the discovery of ideas and
tentative explanations of a phenomenon
• Demonstrating the explanation is better left
to descriptive and causal research

Churchill 1999

Experience Survey in Exploratory

Research

• Taps the knowledge and experience of those

familiar with the subject being investigated
• Careful selection of respondents needed,
because the nature of the experience survey
is on gaining insight into the relationship
between variables and not to get an accurate
picture of current or best practices.
• Provocative ideas and useful insights are
more valuable than statistics of the
profession
Churchill 1999

4
 Focus Groups in Exploratory
Research

• Consist of 8-12 members knowledgeable in the

subject under investigation
• Goal is to:
• Generate hypotheses for quantitative test
• Generate information to structure questionnaires
• Provide overall background information
• Secure impressions on new product concepts
• Interact through various possible means, e.g.
meeting, email group using Delphi techniques etc.

Churchill 1999

Analysis of Selected Cases in

Exploratory Research

• Involves the intensive study of selected cases of a

phenomenon
• Done e.g. by examining existing records, observation,
unstructured interviews
• Focus is on seeking explanations – not testing
explanations
• Requires the integration of many diverse bits of
information into a unified interpretation
• Cases that show sharp contrasts or have striking
features are most useful (such as best and worst
cases, or benchmarking)
Churchill 1999

5
 Descriptive Research

Purpose of descriptive research is to:

• describe the characteristics of certain groups
/ samples / populations
• Estimate proportions in specified populations
• Make specific predictions (Churchill 1999)

Descriptive research often follows exploratory

research to describe the particularities of the
properties identified during in the exploratory
step.

Descriptive Research

• Done using rigid methods with clear

specifications of the who, what, when, where,
why and how of the research

• Frequently use pilot studies to test the data

collection tool and analysis techniques

• Data collection often done through structured

interviews or questionnaires

(Churchill 1999)

6
 Classification of Descriptive
Studies

True Panel
Longitudinal
Omnibus Panel
Descriptive
Studies

Cross-Sectional Sample Survey

(Churchill 1999)

Cross-Sectional Descriptive Studies

• most common and most familiar

• uses a representative sample of elements from a
population, often for a sample survey
• characteristics of the elements are measured once, i.e. it
provides a snapshot of the variables under investigation
•Disadvantage of sample surveys are:
• High level questions, not very deep, which allow for
statistical analysis
• Expensive in terms of time and money
• Technical skills requirements of the researcher
(Churchill 1999)

7
 Longitudinal Descriptive Studies

•involve panels, i.e. a fixed sample of elements, which are

repeatedly measured over time, i.e. it provides a movie of the
variables under investigation
• panel members are relatively constant over time
• True panel: repeatedly measured on the same variable
• Omnibus panel: repeatedly measured, but on differing
variables
•True longitudinal analysis (aka time series analysis) can only
be performed on the true panel
•Main disadvantage of panels is that they are non
representative
(Churchill 1999)

Causal Research

A change in one variable brings about a change in

another variable
Four conditions for causal relationships:
• Time sequence – cause occurs before effect
• Covariance – two variables are related
• Non-spurious association – relationship is not caused
by another variable
• Theoretical support – logical explanation exists for the
cause- effect relationship

8
 Causal Research
Causality tested through
• Lab experiments
• All variables are controlled
• Influence of external variables minimized
• Internal validity maximized
• Field tests
• Most credible results
• Influence of ‘real world’ settings taken into
account
• External validity maximized

Main Research Designs

Exploratory Research Descriptive Research Causal Research

Uses • Formulate • Describe • Provide evidence

problems more characteristics of regarding the causal
precisely certain groups relationship between
• Develop • Estimate proportion variables by means of:
hypotheses of people in a o Concomitant variation
• Establish population who o Time order in which
priorities behave in a certain variables occur
• Eliminate way o Elimination of other
impractical ideas • Make specific possible explanations
• Clarify concepts predictions
Types • Literature search • Longitudinal study • Laboratory experiment
• Experience o True panel • Field experiment
survey o Omnibus panel
• Focus groups • Sample survey
• Analysis of
selected cases

9
 Choosing the Right Design
Design type depends on research question: If research
question asks for:
• discovery or clarification: use exploratory design
• description of quantities, amounts, or extent of variable
relations: use descriptive design
• Statements on cause and effect: use causal design
Other factors that influence the design decision:
• Accessibly and quality of required data
• Ethical questions
• Time, cost, and researchers experience

Key Choices of Research Design

Researcher is independent vs Researcher is involved

Large samples vs Small numbers
Testing theories vs Generating theories
Experimental design vs Fieldwork methods
Verification vs Falsification

Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, & Lowe, 1991

10
 Choosing the Research Approach

• Deductive
• Testing theory

• Inductive
• Developing theory

11
 Deductive Research
• Based on methods from natural science
• Existing theory used for hypotheses
development
• Data collection through surveys, observation,
Questionnaires, interviews etc.
• Analysis often done using statistical methods,
e.g. multivariate data analysis techniques
• Theory development through confirmed or
rejected hypotheses
• Replicable research

Inductive Research

• Understanding of a new / unknown phenomena

• Data collection through interviews, observation,
diary methods
• Analysis approach holistic, inductive, pattern
recognition / development
• Theory follows data
• Difficult to replicate

12
 Research Strategies

• Experiment
• Survey
• Case study
• Grounded theory
• Ethnography
• Action research

Experiment

• Tests a hypothesis
• Controls external variables e.g. through
selection of individuals from known
populations
• Tests impact of different levels of X-
variable(s) (cause) on Y-variable (effect)
• Yields highest levels of precision in
measurement

13
 Survey

• Mostly used in deductive research, but has

potential for inductive research as well
• Often done through questionnaires with
standardised data which can be analysed
using quantitative methods
• Time consuming because of need for
questionnaire design, pilot test and analysis
• Can also be used for in-depth structured
interviews

Case Study Research

… is a comprehensive research strategy which attempts to

examine a contemporary phenomenon in its real life
context (Yin).
Uses a variety of data collection methods to test existing
theory or develop new theory. Therefore it can be based
on:
• Expert knowledge of previous research and a priori
hypothesis development which precede data collection
• The intent to create scientific generalisations through
the deep understanding of issues, contexts and
interpretations

14
 Grounded Theory

An inductive, theory-discovery methodology that

allows the researcher to develop a theoretical
account of the general features of a topic while
simultaneously grounding the account in empirical
observations or evidence (Glaser and Strauss
1967)
• Often done using interviews or observations to
identify patterns for development of a grounded
theory. This theory can be tested for generalisation
using e.g. a large scale survey.

Ethnography

• A form of participant observation

• Allows to interpret the behaviour of
individuals in their real world context
• Inductive research approach
• Time consuming

15
 Action Research

… is to describe, understand, explain and change

simultaneously
• Intended for management of change projects,
executed by a combination of researcher and
practitioner
• Researcher is part of the organization / project
• Is a cyclical approach for the improvement of
organizational changes and the associated actions
over time

16
Dilemmatics

Runkel & McGrath 1972

Dilemmatics

Runkel & McGrath 1972

17
 Example of a research design

Research Questions (Example)

Q1:How do organisational structure, relational

norms and project risk impact preferences
for communication frequency, contents and
media of project sponsors and managers in
their formal communication during
implementation of IT projects?

Q2: How effective is the formal communication

between project sponsors and project
managers during IT project
implementation?

18
 Research Hypotheses (Example)
H1: There will be a significant difference between
communication preferences of project sponsors from
buyer firms and those of project managers from IT
seller firms in terms of preferred communication
frequency, contents and media.
H2: There will be a positive relationship between the
extent of organic organisation structure and
communication frequency. The more organic the
organisation, the higher the frequency in
communication.
H3: There will be a negative relationship between the
level of organic organisation structure and the use of
lean media. Bureaucratic organisation structures will
favour written reports, while organic structures
favour more interactive media like verbal
communication or face-to-face meetings.

Research Hypotheses (Example)

H4: There will be a negative relationship between the

extent of organic organisation structure and the use
of quantitative measures, like quality metrics and
earned value numbers. Bureaucratic structures will
favour quantitative data.
H5: There will be a positive relationship between project
goal equivocality and media richness; rich media
(e.g. face-to-face meetings) will be selected for
communications in projects with unclear goals, and
lean media (i.e. written communication) in projects
with clearly defined goals.
H6: There will be a positive relationship between
clearness of methodology and the use of written
media for communications.

19
 Example of Design and Process
• underlying philosophical stance is that of post-positivism
• starting point is a set of hypotheses derived from the
literature review
• the degree of researcher involvement in the research
process is minimized through use of survey techniques and
structured interviews
• knowledge is gained though use of quantitative and
qualitative methods, i.e. surveys and interviews, to
triangulate and validate research findings and provide them
to the scientific community for test and public scrutiny.

Example of Design and Process

Preparation Execution Conclusion

Literature Review,
establishing Hypotheses
and Questions Conclusions

Research Design Interview Analysis and

Results Triangulation

Focus Groups Interviews

Survey Pretest Survey Analysis

Worldwide Survey

time

20