RESEARCH DESIGN

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 What is a Research Design?
The search design constitutes the blueprint
• For the collection, measurement, and
analysis of data.

• It aids the scientist in the allocation of his

limited resources by posing crucial
choices:

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 Some Examples
1. Is the blueprint to include experiments,
interview, observation, the analysis of
records, simulation, or some
combination of these?

1. Are the methods of data collection and

the research situation to be highly
structured ?

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 More Examples
1. Is an intensive study of a small
sample more effective than a less
intensive study of a large sample?

2.Should the analysis be primarily

quantitative or qualitative?

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 The Essentials of Research
Design
• The design is an activity – and-time –
based plan.

• The design is always based on the

research question.

• The design guides the selection of

sources and type of information.
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 The Essentials of Research
Design
• The design guides the selection of
sources and type of information.

• The design in a framework for specifying

the relationships among the study’s
variables.

• The design outlines procedures for every

research activity.
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 Classification of Designs

• A number of different design approaches

exist

• But, unfortunately, no simple classification

system defines all the variations that must
be considered.

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 Method of Data Collection
• Monitoring

Researcher inspects the activities of a

subject or the nature of some material
without attempting to elicit responses from
anyone

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 Methods of Collecting Data
• Interrogation/communication processes

The researcher questions the subjects and

collects their response by personal or
impersonal means.

(1)Interview or telephone conversations

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 Methods of Collecting Data
(2) Self-administered or self-reported
instruments sent through the mail, left in
convenient locations, or transmitted
electronically or by other means

(3)Instruments presented before and/or after a

treatment or stimulus condition in an
experiment

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 The Purpose of the Study
Descriptive or Causal

• If the research is concerned with finding

out who, what, where, when, or how
much, then the study is descriptive.

• If it is concerned with learning why-that is,

how one variable produces changes is
another – it is causal.
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 The Time dimension
• Cross –sectional studies are carried out
once and represent a snapshot of one
point in time.

• Longitudinal studies are repeated over an

extended period. It can track changes
over time.

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 The Topical Scope
• Statistical Studies are designed for breadth rather
than depth.

• They attempt to capture a population’s

characteristics by making inferences from a
sample’s characteristics.

• Hypotheses are tested quantitatively.

• Generalizations about findings are presented based

on the representativeness of the sample and the
validity of the design.
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 Topical Scope
• Case studies
• Place more emphasis on a full contextual
analysis of fewer events or conditions and
their interrelations

• An emphasis on detail provides valuable

insight for problem solving, evaluation,
and strategy.
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 Topical Scope
The Research Environment Designs also
differ

• as to whether they occur under actual

environmental conditions (field conditions

• or under staged manipulated conditions

(laboratory conditions).
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 Topical Scope
• Simulations are increasingly used in research,
especially in operations research

• The major characteristics of various conditions

and relationships in actual situations are often
represented in mathematical models.

• Role – playing

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 Exploratory Techniques

• Secondary data analysis

• Experience surveys.

• Focus group

• Two – stage design.

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 Secondary Data Analysis
• The first step in an exploratory study is a
search of the secondary literature

• Organization’s own data archives

• Reports of prior research studies

Published Documents, reports, internet

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 Experience Survey
• May be proprietary to a given organization
and thus unavailable to an outside
researcher.

• When we interview persons in an

experience survey, we should seek their
ideas about important issues or aspects of
the subject and discover and discover new
facts
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 Focus in an Experience
• The investigative format we use should be
flexible enough
• What is being done?
• What has been tried in the past without
success? With success?
• How have things changed?
• What are the change – producing elements
of the situation?
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 Issues in an Experience
• Who is involved in decisions and what role does
each person play?
• What problem areas and barriers can be seen?
• What are the costs of the processes under study?
• Whom can we count on to assist and/or participate
in the research?
• What are the priority areas?

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 FOCUS GROUPS
• The most common application of focus
group research - consumer arena

• The topical objective of a focus group is

often a new product or product concept.

• The output of the session is a list of ideas

and behavioral observations
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 Focus Groups
• A focus group is a panel of people, led by a
trained moderator

• Group of 10 to 20

• Too small or too large a group results in less

effective participation.

• The facilitator introduces the topic and

encourages the group to discuss it among
themselves.
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 Essentials in a Focus Group
• Homogeneity within the Focus Group

• Telephone Focus Groups

• Online Focus Groups

• Video conferencing focus groups

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 Recording, Analysis, and
Reporting
• In face –to-face settings, some
moderators use large sheets of paper to
record trends on the wall of the focus

• The recorded conversations and

moderator notes are summarized across
several focus group sessions using
content analysis.
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 Advantages Disadvantages of
Focus Groups
• Ability to quickly and inexpensively grasp
the core issues of a topic.

• Relatively inexpensive, and extremely

flexible.

• Chance to observe reactions to their

research questions in an open-ended
group setting.
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 Advantages Disadvantages of
Focus Groups
• Enable the exploration of surprise
information and new ideas

• Results, from focus groups should not be

considered a replacement for quantitative
analyses.

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 Two Stage Design
• What should be known before effort and
resources are committed.

• An exploratory study is finished when the

researchers have achieved the following :

• Established the major dimensions of the

research task.
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 Two Stage Design
• Defined as a set of subsidiary investigative
questions that can be used as guides to a
detailed research design.

• Developed several hypotheses about possible

causes of a management dilemma.

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 Descriptive Studies
• Descriptions of phenomena or characteristics
with a subject population( the who, what,
when, where, and how of a topic).

• Estimates of the proportions of a population

that have these characteristics.

• Discovery of associations among different

variable.
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 Descriptive Study
• Same research skills as the causal study

• Same high standards for design and execution .

• The simplest descriptive study concerns

• Uni-variate question or hypothesis in which we

• Ask about, or state something about,

• The size, form, distribution, or existence of a

variable.
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 Causal Studies
• How one variable affects, or is
“responsible for,” changes in another
variable.

• We are more interested in understanding,

explaining, predicting, and controlling
relationships between variable than we
are in discerning causes.

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 Possible Relationships
• Symmetrical

• Reciprocal

• Asymmetrical

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 The Post Hoc Fallacy
• Used to describe unwarranted conclusions.

• The ex post facto design is widely used in

business research and often is the only
approach feasible.

• One seeks causal explanations between

variables that are impossible to manipulate and
cannot be assigned to treatment and control
groups in advance
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 Post Hoc Fallacy
• . We often find that there are multiple
causes rather than one.

• Should be careful in using the ex post

facto design with causal reasoning.

• Thorough testing, validating of multiple

hypotheses, and controlling for
confounding variable are necessary
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