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Research Designs
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RESEARCH DESIGNS 2
Research Designs
Ever since the existence of life on earth, curiosity has always been the part of
human psychology. This curiosity has always inspired the man to research. With a very
basic definition, research is about finding the answers to your questions but this definition
limits the meaning of this broad word. Going for a much scientific definition, research is
‘When a new work is done on systematic basis to increase the knowledge’ which can be
about culture, community and nature etc. Then on the basis of this research, a new law or
theory is proposed for the invention of new applications (Mertens, 1998). Research is not
only about gaining knowledge from newly invented facts it also reaffirms the previous
knowledge. A research can be done on a previous project for the purpose of its expansion.
Research is also used for the purpose of testing the previous facts, knowledge and even
instruments.
The difference between the modern world and the world, in which our ancestors
used to live, majorly exist because of research. Research has played an important role in
many fields of Science and Arts. In this regard, many new different methods of research
have been developed. In this paper, the major approaches to research and different
methods will be discussed which are now being used extensively in different fields.
There are three major research methods that have been adapted in the modern
Qualitative Research
academic, professional and traditional ones. The other areas are market research and
further contexts. These types of researchers try to evaluate the deep understanding of
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behavior of people and the reasons which are responsible for it (Berg, 2001). As decision
making involves what, when, where etc. Qualitative research is really important in
determining the ‘why’ and ‘how’ parts of decision making. A major difference in this
method of research and other ones is that quality of sample taken for a prescribed survey
Talking about a conservative point of view, the information gathered from this
type of method can only be helpful for the specific cases. Any attempt trying to draw
additional conclusions from this will be failed and only propositions can be deduced. In
important role in project evaluations. There are several other methods which are being
used, but on a less frequent basis (Cooper, Schindler & Sun, 2007). Qualitative research
methods are mostly helpful in social sciences as mostly they are in concern with social
phenomena and their development. For example about the nature, why things are so,
social aspects of world and other types of things are being studied with the help of this
type of research methods. Basically, qualitative research methods answer about three type
types of questions:
- Why
- How
- What
may include direct interview with each individual separately or having a conversation
with them in a group setting. As this task is time consuming, so the samples taken for
qualitative research methods are usually small as going for a large sample may be time
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consuming and costly. As compared to the quantitative research, the data is quite small to
avoid the consumption of time and money. It has to be kept in mind that qualitative
methods are more expensive than quantitative ones but the advantage is that the
conclusions drawn from this method of research are accurate (Sekaran, 2006). Though,
There are different methods of data collection for qualitative study which may
involve focus groups, interviews, observations and action research. Also there are special
occasions, in which ethnography, self-study and other forms are more suitable.
depth’. The interview need not to be too long as it can be allowed to have a little structure
and the good thing is that almost same questions are asked from every individual. In
special case, interviews can be subjective but that would be time consuming with an
additional advantage, that is, a great area of details is covered. Interview can also be
taken in a group or it is a kind of survey which can be taken from a group of people and
the great advantage about it is that it not time consuming and a large collection of data
can be gathered within small time. Observation is another method of data collection
which is comparatively accurate but a little consuming. In this type, researcher notices
what is happening in the nature as well as what is happening around him (Creswell &
Clark, 2007). The disadvantages involve change in the behavior of people when they
know that they are being observed and limitations of the researcher’s knowledge.
Ethnography, on the other hand, involves studying the culture and looks at the people. It
might need a researcher to arrange formal and informal interviews as well as meeting a
specific individual on multiple occasions and taking part in group observations. Another
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type, Action research, doesn’t involve only ‘observation’, it requires taking an action or
‘doing’ it. Action research is specifically collaborative and the researcher and his actions
are particularly involved in the research and a particular ‘FMA’ model is followed. FMA
model is:
- Framework of ideas
- Methodology
Also, there are other forms of data collection which vary from longitudinal
research to panel studies. These are the type of methods, which are used on less frequent
Quantitative Research
Structure and the process are two most important ingredients of a research. The
necessary for a researcher to choose the right type otherwise it could have negative
consequences for research. Quantitative research methods are mostly based upon methods
which are used in the natural sciences (Trochim & Donnelly, 2001). Comparing to
qualitative methods, the data collection can be a bit similar in both methods, but the
amount of data taken in quantitative method is quite large and it is not so time
consuming.
Quantitative research methods are often used to find out how many, how often
and how much. Also, unlike qualitative approach, the results obtained after quantitative
research can be used to deduce the further result and it is often applicable for larger
number of cases. These types of research methods tend to be scientific and objective and
RESEARCH DESIGNS 6
the results determined are quite accurate, even close to the perfect ones. Mostly,
quantitative methods are used for assessment and measurement of a particular thing. In
the modern world, quantitative research is also being done through e-mail which has
Normally, there are two types of theories which are best deducible from
the quantitative research involve deductibility, easy testing and they are useful for the
purpose of making generalizations. These types of research methods are especially useful
for a researcher (Bryman, 2012). The importance of quantitative research methods exist
because they are more scientific and objective in nature and the further information
deduced from the results after implementing quantitative approach. As these types of
methods are useful to test the hypothesis or general observations, these are often applied
One more important thing about the quantitative research methods is that the
sample taken for study during the stage of data collection is usually large and sometimes
it is so large that it can be taken enough as a representative for the whole population.
quantitative methods. The methods used to verify data vary from Lab experiments, field
questionnaires are very useful in this type of research as these are less time consuming
and enable the researcher to gather the large piece of information within small time. The
data collected from large number of people in this regard is standardized and can be used
RESEARCH DESIGNS 7
to deduce further result about a particular behavior or trend. In simple words, the data is
attention from the researcher’s side. It depends upon several factors which vary from
researcher’s previous knowledge to the purpose of research. There are several advantages
and consequences which are offered by the questionnaires. The advantages involve
practicality, cost-efficiency and reliability. While on the other hand, disadvantages are
that it can be inadequate and lacks validity in several cases. Also, it can be suspicious
because there is no way to tell that to what extent, the respondent is providing useful
information.
- Open ended
- Closed
The former type lacks the proper definition of quantitative research and it makes
more difficult to extract quantifiable data from it. Quantitative type of research methods
are being extensively used in the modern world for different studies, especially in the area
of business administration. For example, quantitative research can be used to count the
number of people who are using a current service. It also can be used for the purpose of
In modern world, mixed methods of research are being extensively used for the
purpose of extracting useful information. In fact, there are minor occasions when purely
qualitative and quantitative methods are applied. There are other methods which are
types of methods are useful for particular area of studies, yet someone can’t deny their
importance.
As it has been mentioned above that during many different researches, both types
of methods are applied, it depends upon the purpose of researcher and the approach
which most suitable for the particular case. The researcher has to adjust a suitable reading
on a scale with extreme values of ‘purely quantitative’ and ‘purely qualitative’. Several
- Quasi-experimental
- Experimental
- Correlation
- Meta-analysis
In the first one, two different groups are compared. The difference between them
that one group is influenced by an external source and the other one is not.
In correlation analysis, which is also known as regression analysis and is being widely
used in the different areas of statistics and business statistical management, two different
variables are compared. It is determined that to what extent, both variables are connected
(Thomas, Nelson & Silverman, 2010). It is being widely used in stock market and foreign
exchange market for the purpose of determining strength between two different stocks,
currencies or commodities.
In experimental method, sample is divided into two groups. One group receives
intervention while the other one does not and then a difference is noted. For example, an
experimental analysis can be done to note the difference between people who drink wine
Meta-analysis is useful for finding out the average impact because of several
It is important, that the researcher should choose a vital and suitable method of
research to get accurate results (Liamputtong & Ezzy, 2005). As it has been determined,
that if someone is using quantitative approach he might want measure variables or verify
existing theories and laws or he may want to be objective and want to deduce further
generalization after obtaining the results. However, this approach is not suitable for every
research as not every problem involves number crunching and measurements. Sometimes
a researcher wants to understand particular beliefs and experiences which can better be
explained through qualitative approach. Even the most objective method being used for
research may involve qualitative approach to some extent and thus one cannot determine
research method which will enable the researcher to collect the suitable data and answer
his questions. It depends upon the chief goal of the research. If someone is more
society or a case or a group he should go for qualitative one. As each one involves a
different type of planning and practicing, so it is a good idea to take a good look at the
chief goal before even taking a start. In some cases, neither qualitative nor quantitative
methods are useful and mixed approaches seem to be best and it has been proved in many
cases. The knowledge of choosing a suitable methodology comes with knowledge and
experience. In case of wrong selection, it may affect the results in a bad way and it is
RESEARCH DESIGNS 10
often difficult to change the bias during the procedure and the researcher will be needed
References
Berg, B. (2001). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.
Cooper, D., Schindler, P., & Sun, J. (2007). Business research methods. Beijing:
Creswell, J. W., & Clark, V. L. P. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods
research.
Saunders, M. N., Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2011). Research methods for
Sekaran, U. (2006). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John
Thomas, J. R., Nelson, J. K., & Silverman, S. J. (2010). Research methods in physical