Research Designs and Methods

Summary of research designs and methods

When a researcher embarks on the process of conducting a meaningful study or researcher, they must first choose an appropriate framework of methods and techniques that will guide them throughout the study. The framework of techniques and methods is usually referred to as the research design. Most researchers will choose between the following 5 common research designs;

In experimental research design, actual experiments are conducted.in this research design, the researcher is interested in the relationship between the cause and the effect of a particular outcome happening. In other words, a researcher will examine the impact of a certain variable, the independent variable on another variable, the dependent variable. For example, an experimental research design might be employed to examine the effect of price on customer satisfaction. This study design will often come hand in hand with correlational research designs. There are various types of experiments that a researcher can choose from; field experiments, controlled experiments and a quasi-experiment.

A descriptive research designs is mostly theory based. In this design, a researcher is mostly interested in a description of a certain phenomenon subject to their study area. It will mostly be associated to case studies, observations and surveys. While using this study design, a researcher will primarily focus on describing the event in a manner that allows others to understand the topic in question and why more research is required in this field. Its process incudes, data collection, analysis and then presentation of results and findings.

A diagnostic research design in one where the researcher is interested in understanding the underlying effect of a certain phenomenon or outcome. When a researcher employs this kind of research design, they will find out more about the factors that lead to a certain outcome, issue or challenge that they are trying to explore. For example, a diagnostic research design might be employed by a researcher to explore the factors that lead to poor customer satisfaction. Because the factors that lead to this outcome are not know, a diagnostic of various factors will be done.

In a correlational research design, the researcher is usually interested in examining the relationship between two topics or groups of data. In other words, it allows for the determination of the relationship between two or more variables (Note: Correlations does not imply causality). Often in a correlational study, the researcher might follow up with an experimental design to determine if the observed relationship implies causality.

An explanatory research design, just like its name, it is self-explanatory. This research design is employed by a researcher to explore and further expand their ideas, theories and concepts. It will mostly be employed in areas where little to no elaboration has been done in the past. As such, a researcher will develop on the unexplored factors of a particular phenomenon while trying to explain the missing gaps in the topic.

The grouping of techniques into various classes is based on a lot of factors. For instance, when grouping research methods and design by their data types, we get;

• Quantitative research design
• Qualitative research design.

On the other hand, research design types can be grouped based on how study participants/ sample is grouped. In this case, we have the following research design

• Cohort study
• Cross-sectional study
• Longitudinal study
• Cross-sequential study

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