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Chapter 5 Research Design
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Chapter 5 Research Design
Research design is a comprehensive plan for data collection in an empirical research project. It
is a ‘blueprint’ for empirical research aimed at answering specific research questions or testing
specific hypotheses, and must specify at least three processes: the data collection process, the
instrument development process, and the sampling process.
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Popular research designs
Focus group research is a type of research that involves bringing in a small group of subjects
(typically six to ten people) at one location, and having them discuss a phenomenon of interest
for a period of one and a half to two hours.
Experimental studies are those that are intended to test cause-effect relationships (hypotheses)
in a tightly controlled setting by separating the cause from the effect in time, administering the
cause to one group of subjects (the ‘treatment group’) but not to another group (‘control group’),
and observing how the mean effects vary between subjects in these two groups.
Case research is an in-depth investigation of a problem in one or more real-life settings (case
sites) over an extended period of time.
Field surveys are non-experimental designs that do not control for or manipulate independent
variables or treatments, but measure these variables and test their effects using statistical methods.
Cross-sectional field surveys, independent and dependent variables are measured
at the same point in time (e.g., using a single questionnaire).
longitudinal field surveys,
Dependent variables are measured at a later point in time than the independent variables.
Secondary data analysis is an analysis of data that has previously been collected and tabulated
by other sources.
Action research assumes that complex social phenomena are best understood by introducing
interventions or ‘actions’ into those phenomena and observing the effects of those actions.
Ethnography is an interpretive research design inspired by anthropology that emphasises
that research phenomenon must be studied within the context of its culture.
Data Collection Methods
Positivist methods, such as laboratory experiments and survey research, are aimed
at theory (or hypotheses) testing, while interpretive methods, such as action research and
ethnography, are aimed at theory building.
Positivist research uses predominantly quantitative data, but can also use qualitative data.
Sometimes, joint use of qualitative and quantitative data may help
generate unique insight into a complex social phenomenon that is not available from either type
of data alone, and hence, mixed-mode designs that combine qualitative and quantitative data are
often highly desirable.
Interpretive methods employ an inductive approach that starts with data and tries to derive a
theory about the phenomenon of interest from the observed data.
Interpretive research relies heavily on qualitative data, but can sometimes benefit from including
quantitative data as well.
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