Review of Related

Literature
 Intended Learning Objectives
• To know the importance of the review of
related literatures and studies
• To identify the type of literatures and studies
for the specific research problem
• To review related literatures and studies for
the identified research topic
 Background and Preparatory Reading
• Reasons to be essential stage of the research
process
– It is essential to know what work has been done
previously in the topic area
– It will help the researcher to identify research
possibilities and to tailor or slant your particular
research project to gin new insights or perspectives on
the chosen topic
– This in turn will help you develop a research
methodology appropriate to the chosen project
– It will help you to justify your choice of research topic
at the project proposal stage to your supervisor/tutor
• Checklist for analyzing the literature and for
helping to determine the research approach
– What was the purpose of the previous study and
how does it differ from other studies encountered
and own research ideas?
– How was the previous research conducted and
how does it differ from other studies and the
proposed research?
– What were the findings and how do they differ
from other studies and what is expected to find?
– What were the limitations and weaknesses of
these previous studies?
Research Design
 Intended Learning Objectives
• To understand the different research design
• To determine the appropriate research design
for the proposed research project
• To make a research design for an identified
research
 Meaning of Research Design
• The arrangement of conditions for collection and
analysis of data in a manner that aims to combine
relevance to the research purpose with economy
in procedure
• The conceptual structure within which research is
conducted; it constitutes the blueprint for the
collection, measurement and analysis of data
• Includes an outline of what the researcher will do
from writing the hypothesis and its operational
implications to the final analysis of data.
• The design decisions is with respect to the
following:
– What is the study about?
– Why is the study being made?
– Where will the study be carried out?
– What type of data is required?
– Where can the required data be found?
– What periods of time will the study include?
– What will be the sample design?
– What techniques of data collection will be used?
– How will the data be analyzed?
– In what style will the report be prepared?
• Parts of the research design:
– The sampling design – deals with the method of selecting items to be
observed for the given study
– The observational design – concerns with the question of how many items are
to be observed and how the information and data gathered are to be
analyzed; and
– The operational design – deals with the techniques by which the procedures
specified in the sampling, statistical and observational design can be carried
out
• Important features a research design:
– it is a plan that specifies the sources and types of information relevant to the
research problem
– It is a strategy specifying which approach will be used for gathering and
analyzing the data
– It also includes the time and cost budgets since most studies are done under
these two constraints
• Must contain:
– A clear statement of the research problem
– Procedures and techniques to be used for gathering information
– The population to be studied
– Methods to be used in processing and analyzing data
 Need for Research Design
• To minimize the expenditure
• To facilitate the smooth scaling
• To collect the relevant data technique
• To provide blue print for plans
• To provide an overview to other experts
• To provide a direction
 Characteristics of Good Research
Design
• Factors for consideration of appropriate
research design
– The means of obtaining information
– The availability and skills of the researcher and his
staff, if any
– The objective of the problem to be studied
– The nature of the problem to be studied; and
– The availability of time and money for the
research work
• Characteristics of Good Research Design
– Objectivity
– Reliability
– Validity
– Generalizability
• Characteristics of the research problem
– The problem is clearly formulated
– The population is clearly defined
– Most appropriate techniques of sample selection are used to
form an appropriate sample
– Appropriate statistical analysis has been carried out
– The findings of the study are capable of generalization
– Adequate information
 • Factors to consider for an ideal design
– Identifying the exact research problem to be studied
– The objective of the research
– The process of obtaining information
– The availability of adequate and skilled manpower and
– Other features

• Flexibility, adaptability, efficiency, being economic

• Should minimize bias and maximize reliability and
generalization
 Important Concepts Relating to
Research Design
• Dependent and independent variables
– Variable
• Continuous variables
• Non-continuous variable
• Dependent variable
• Independent variable
• Extraneous variable
• Control
• Confounded relationship
• Research hypothesis
• Experimental and non-experimental hypothesis-testing
research
• Experimental and control group
• Treatment
• Experiment
• Experimental unit(s)
 Different Research Designs
• Research design in case of exploratory research studies
– In the context of research design for this study
• Survey of concerning literature
• The experience survey
• Analysis of insight-stimulating examples
• Research design in case of descriptive and diagnostic
research studies
– The design in such studies must be rigid and not flexible
and must focus attention on the following:
• Formulating the objective of the study (what the study is about
and why is it being made?)
• Designing the methods of data collection (what techniques for
gathering data will be adopted?)
• Selecting the sample (how much material will be
needed?)
• Collecting the data (where can the required data be
found and with what time period should the data be
related?)
• Processing and analyzing the data
• Reporting the findings
• Research design in case of hypothesis-testing
research studies
 Basic Principles of Experimental
Designs
• Three principles of experimental designs:
– The principle of replication
– The principle of randomization
– Principle of local control
• Important Experimental Design
– Informal experimental designs
• Before-and-after without control design
• After-only with control design
• Before-and-after with control design
– Formal experimental designs
• Completely randomized design (C.R. design)
• Randomized block design (R.B. design)
• Latin square design (L.S. design)
• Factorial designs

– Before-and-after without control design

• A single test group or area is selected and the
dependent variable is measured before the introduction
of the treatment
– After-only with control design
• Two groups or areas (test area and control area) are
selected and the treatment is introduced into the test
area

– Before-and-after with control design

• Two areas are selected and the dependent variable is
measured in both the areas for an identical time-period
before the treatment
– Completely randomized design (C.R. design)
• Involves two principles viz., the principle of replication
and the principle of randomization of experimental
design
• Two forms
– Two-group simple randomized design
» The population is defined and then from the population a
sample is selected randomly.
» After being selected randomly from the population, they
are randomly assigned to the experimental and control
groups
– Random replication design
» The effect the differenced on the dependent variable
were minimized (or reduced) by providing a number of
repetitions for each treatment
– Randomized block design (R.B. design)
• The principle of local can be applied along with the
other two principles of experimental designs

– Latin square design (L.S. design)

• Frequently used in agricultural research
– Factorial designs
• Used in experiments where the effects of varying more
than one factor are to be determined
• Types:
– Simple factorial designs – consider the effects of varying two
factors on the dependent variable, but when an experiment is
done with more than two factors, the complex factorial design
is used
» Example: 2 x 2 factorial design
 » 4 x 3 factorial design

– Complex factorial designs

» Experiments with more than two factors at a time involve
the use of complex factorial designs