Chapter 6

STUDY DESIGN

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Definition
Study

design refers to the methodology that is used

to investigate a particular phenomenon or a
situation.
Is a plan that outlines how a research project will
be conducted in order to get the most legitimate
results from the study.
All

study designs provide meaningful information

when used appropriately and their strengths and
limitations are understood.
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Types of Study Design

There are different approaches to research, and
different study designs are used to answer
different questions.
1. Study designs in quantitative research
2. Study designs in qualitative research

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Study designs in quantitative

research
Designs based on the number of contacts
2. Designs based on the reference period
3. Designs based on the nature of the
investigation
1.

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1. Designs Based on the Number

of Contacts
Cross-sectional study design
ii. Before-and after study design
iii. Longitudinal study design
i.

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i. Cross-sectional Design
Involves observations of a sample, or crosssection of a population or phenomenon that
are made at one point in time.
In this design you decide what you want to find
out, identify the study population, select a
sample, and contact your respondents to find
out the required information.

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Examples :
a. The attitudes of students towards the
facilities available in the library
b. The quality assurance of a service provided
by an organization
c. The relationship between the home
environment and the academic
performance of student
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ii. Before-and-after Design

Appropriate for measuring the impact or
effectiveness of a program or services.
Examples:
a. The effect of advertisement on the sale of
a product
b. The impact of increased funding on the
quality of teaching in universities
c. The effectiveness of a marriage
counseling on marital life.
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Advantages & Disadvantages of

Before and after Design
The main advantage is the ability to measure
change in a phenomenon or to assess the impact
of an intervention.
Some of the disadvantages are:
1. Expensive & time consuming
2. Attrition or changes in the study population
3. Unable to ascertain whether independent or
extraneous variables are responsible for
bringing the change in the dependent variable.
4. Unable to quantify the contribution of
independent and extraneous variables
separately
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5. Maturation effect (e.g. young children)

6. Regression effect . This is in a situation where
the participants change their attitude at the time
of the post-test period.

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iii. Longitudinal Study Design

Is a design that helps us to determine the
pattern of change in relation to time.
Is useful when:
a. You wish to study a group of population
adopting a program in relation to time
b. You need to collect factual information
on a continuing basis
In longitudinal studies:
1. The study population is visited a number
of times at regular interval
2. The information gathered each time is
identical
3. Collected data may not be from the same
respondents
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Advantages & Disadvantages of

Longitudinal Study Design
The main advantage: It allows the researcher to
measure the pattern of change and obtain factual
information, requiring collection on a regular or
continuing basis.
The design has the same disadvantages as beforeand after design, in addition to:
Conditioning effect: this is a situation where, if the
same respondents are contacted frequently, they
begin to know what is expected of them and may
respond to questions without thought, or they may
lose interest in the study.
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2. Study Designs Based on the

Reference Period
1. Retrospective Studies
Investigate a phenomenon, situation, problem
or issue that has happened in the past.
They are usually conducted either on the basis
of the data available for that period or on the
basis of respondents recall of the situation.
Examples:
1. The utilization of land before World War II in
the UAE
2. A historical analysis of migration in the US
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2. Prospective Studies
Refers to the likely frequency of a
phenomenon, situation, problem, attitude or
outcome in the future.
Such studies attempt to establish the outcome
of an event or what is likely to happen.
Examples:
1. To establish the effects of a counseling service
on marital problems
2. To find out the effect of parental involvement
on the level of academic achievement of their
children
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3. Retrospective-Prospective Studies
Focus on past trends in a phenomenon and relate
it with the future.
Research study can be classified under this
category if it measures the impact of an
intervention without a control group.
Therefore before-and-after studies without
control group will be classified as retrospectiveprospective studies.
Examples:
1. The impact of incentives on the performance of
workers
2. The impact of maternal health services on the
infant mortality rate
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3.

Study design based on the

Nature of Investigation

1. Experimental Study
2. Non- experimental study
3. Quasi- or semi- experimental study

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3.

Study design based on the

Nature of Investigation

1. Experimental Study: is a study where a researcher use

an experiment to investigates a relationship by starting from
the cause to determine the effects.
Let us look at an objective of this study:

To find-out the relationship between watching violent movies and violent

behavior among children

Violent Movies

Cause (Starting point)

Violent Behavior

Effect

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Some issues to understand about

Experimental Design:
1. Controlled or Natural Environment
An experimental study can be carried out in either a
controlled or a natural environment.
In a controlled environment the study population is
in a controlled situation such as a laboratory or
special room.
In the natural environment the study population is
exposed to an intervention in its own environment.

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2. Randomization
Experimental

studies can be further classified on

the basis of whether or not the study population is
randomly assigned to different treatment groups.
In a Random Design, the experimental group or
the control group is not predetermined but
randomly assigned.
This means each and every individual of a study
population has an equal and independent chance
of being assigned to an experimental or control
group.
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3.

Study design based on the

Nature of Investigation

2- Non-experimental Study: is a study where a

researcher starts from the effects to trace the cause
Let us look at an objective of this study:

To find-out the cause of having violent behavior among children

Violent Behavior

Violent

Movies

Effect (Starting point)

point)

Cause

(Ending

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3.

Study design based on the

Nature of Investigation

3- Quasi_ or semi- experimental study

a study that has the properties of both
experimental and non- experimental study.

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Study Designs in Qualitative

Research

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Case Study
Thorough

analysis of individual case.

The case may be a person, group, episode,
process, community, society or any other unit of
social life.
The assumption of the approach is that the case
being studied is typical of cases of a certain type
so that, thorough intensive analysis, generalization
may be made that will be applicable to other cases
of the same type.
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The Advantages of Case Study

Good

source of ideas about behavior

Good opportunity for innovation
Good method to study rare phenomena
Good method to challenge theoretical
assumptions
Good alternative or complement to the
other approaches

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The Disadvantages of Case

Study
Hard

to draw definite cause-effect

conclusions
Hard to generalize from a single case
Possible biases in data collection and
interpretation (since single person gathers
and analyzes the information)

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The Findings of Case Study

The

case narrative richly and fully reports

the subjects perceptions about the
phenomenon being investigated .
Researchers using the reflective analysis
strategy try to draw their readers into the
participants experiences by using emotive
writings, poems, etc.

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Ethnography
Ethnography

involves the study of an intact

group.
It is an analytical description of social scenes
and groups that recreate for the reader the shared
beliefs, practices, artifacts, folk knowledge, and
behaviors of those people.
Great emphasis is given to the relationship
between culture and behavior.
The researcher is typically an observer or a
participant observer
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Ethnography
Ethnographic

research is very labor and time

intensive, involving extensive fieldwork in a
natural setting.
Usually a general research question(s) is (are)
identified. Once entry is gained and rapport (or
trust) is established, the research questions are
continually refined becoming more focused.

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The Findings of Ethnographic

Research
Findings

are reported in the form of

research based assertions supported by
analytical vignettes, interview quotes, and
interpretative observations,
All intended to present a holistic, rich
description of the experiences and
perceptions of participants.

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Focus Groups
Focus

groups are panels, facilitated by a

moderator, who meet for a specified time
period to exchange perspectives,
knowledge, and/or opinions on
a Particular topic.
Groups are rarely more than a dozen
members.

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Focus Groups
Advantages of focus groups:
Can quickly and cheaply identify core issues of a
topic.
Can observe reactions to a research question or
product in an open forum.
Can explore new or unexpected information or
reactions in subsequent focus groups.
Enable subjects to respond in their own words
and their emotional intensity can be measured.
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Historical Research
Historical

research relies on records,

diaries, oral histories, photographs, and
other artifacts to describe, analyze, and
explain past events, philosophies, etc.
The artifacts and records used are driven
by the particular study and its research
question(s).
Historical research relies significantly on
inductive, logical reasoning
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Historical Research

The Source Materials are either primary or secondary

sources:
A primary source as, an original or first-hand account
of the event or experience.
A secondary source is any account that is not primary.
Primary sources are more desirable than secondary
sources.

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