RESEARCHDESI

GN
Resear chdesignissimplyapl anforastudy.Thi
sisusedasagui deincollect
ingand
analyzingthedat a.Itcanbecal l
edabl uepr i
nttocar r
youtt hest udy.Decisi
ons
regardingwhat ,where,when,how much,bywhatmeansconcer ningani nquiryora
researchstudyconst i
tut
ear esear
chdesign.“Aresear
chdesignist hearrangementof
conditi
onsf orcol l
ecti
on and analy
sisofdat ain amannert hatai mst o combine
rel
evancet otheresearchpurposewitheconomyinprocedure.
”

Inf act,the resear

ch design i
st he conceptualstructure wit
hin which r
esearch i
s
conduct ed;i
tconsti
tutesthebluepri
ntfort hecol
lect
ion,measur ementandanal y
sisof
data.Assucht hedesigni
ncludesanout l
ineofwhatt her esear
cherwilldofr
om wr i
ti
ng
thehy pothesi
sandi t
soperati
onalimpli
cationstothefinalanaly
sisofdata.

Onemayspl i
ttheoveral
lresearchdesi
gnintothefol
l
owingparts:
(a)t
hesampl ingdesignwhi chdealswit
hthemet hodofselect
ingit
emst obeobser
ved
fort
hegiv enstudy;
(b) t
he obser vat
ionaldesi gn which r
elat
es tot he condi
tions underwhich t
he
observat
ionsaretobemade;

(c)t
hestat
ist
icaldesignwhichconcer
nswit
hthequest
ionofhowmanyitemsar
etobe
observ
edandhowt heinf
ormati
onanddatagat
heredar
etobeanal
ysed;
and

(d)theoperat
ionaldesi
gnwhi chdeal
swiththetechni
quesbywhichtheprocedur
es
specif
iedi
nthesampling,
stat
isti
cal
andobser
vati
onaldesi
gnscanbecar
ri
edout.

I
nbr i
ef,resear
chdesignmust,atleast,cont
ain—(
a)aclearstatementoft
heresear
ch
probl
em;( b)Proceduresandtechni
quest obeusedforgatheri
nginfor
mati
on;(c)t
he
popul
ationtobest udi
ed;and(
d)methodst obeusedi
nprocessingandanal
ysi
ngdata.

Needf
orResear
chDesi
gn
Bef
orestart
ingt
her
esear
chpr
ocess,ef
fi
cientandappr
opr
iat
eresear
chdesi
gnshoul
d
beprepar
ed.

Ar
esear
chdesi
gni
sneededbecauseoft
hef
oll
owi
ngbenef
it
sitpr
ovi
des:

I
thel
psi
nsmoot
hfunct
ioni
ngofv
ari
ousr
esear
choper
ati
ons.

I
trequi
resl
essef
for
t,t
imeandmoney
.

I
thel
pst
opl
ani
nadv
ancet
hemet
hodsandt
echni
quest
obeusedf
orcol
l
ect
ingand

anal
ysi
ngdat
a.
 Ithel
psi
nobt
aini
ngt
heobj
ect
ivesoft
her
esear
chwi
tht
heav
ail
abi
l
ityofst
aff
,ti
me
andmoney
.

Feat
uresofaGoodDesi
gn
Agooddesi gnisof tenchar act eri
sedbyadj ecti
vesl kef
i l
exible,appr opriate,effi
ci
ent,
economi calandsoon.Gener ally,thedesignwhi chmi nimisesbi asandmaxi misest he
reli
abilit
yoft hedatacol l
ectedandanal ysedi sconsi der
edagooddesi gn.Thedesi gn
whi chgiv est hesmal lestexper i
ment alerrorissupposedt obet hebestdesi gninmany
i
nv estigations.Similarly,adesi gnwhi chy i
eldsmaxi mali nformat ionandpr ovi
desan
oppor tunityf orconsider i
ngmanydi f f
erentaspect sofapr oblem i sconsi deredmost
appr opri
at eand ef fi
ci entdesi gni nr espectofmanyr esearchpr oblems.Thus,t he
quest i
onofgooddesi gni sr
el atedt ot hepur poseorobj ecti
v eoft her esear chproblem
andal sowi ththenatur eofthepr oblem tobest udied.Adesi gnmaybequi tesuitablein
onecase,butmaybef oundwant i
ngi noner espectort heot heri nthecont extofsome
otherr esear chprobl em.Onesi ngledesi gncannotser vethepur poseofal ltypesof
researchpr oblems.

Ar esear
chdesignappr
opr
iat
eforapart
icul
arr
esear
chpr
obl
em,usual
l
yinv
olv
est
he
consider
ati
onofthef
oll
owi
ngfact
ors:

(
i)t
hemeansofobt
aini
ngi
nfor
mat
ion;

(
ii
)theav
ail
abi
l
ityandski
l
lsoft
her
esear
cherandhi
sst
aff
,ifany
;

(
ii
i)t
heobj
ect
iveoft
hepr
obl
em t
obest
udi
ed;

(
iv)t
henat
ureoft
hepr
obl
em t
obest
udi
ed;
and

(
v)t
heav
ail
abi
l
ityoft
imeandmoneyf
ort
her
esear
chwor
k.

I
mpor
tantConcept
sRel
ati
ngToResear
chDesi
gn
Bef
oredescribi
ngthedif
fer
entresear
chdesigns,i
twil
lbeappropr
iat
et oexpl
ainthe
var
iousconcept
srel
ati
ngtodesi
gnssot hatt
hesemaybebet
terandeasil
yunder
stood.

1.Dependentand i ndependentv ari

ables:A conceptwhi ch can t
ake on different
quanti
tati
vevaluesiscall
edav ar
iable.Assucht heconceptsl i
keweight,hei
ght,i
ncome
are al
lex amples ofv ari
ables.Qual it
ati
v e phenomena ( ort he at
tri
butes)are al so
quanti
fiedont hebasi soft hepr esenceorabsenceoft heconcerningat t
ri
but e(s)
.
Phenomenawhi chcantakeonquant it
ativelydi
fferentv
aluesev enindecimalpointsar e
cal
led‘conti
nuousv ar
iabl
es’.Butallvari
abl esarenotcontinuous.
Iftheycanonl ybeexpr essedi nintegerv al
ues,theyarenon- conti
nuousv ari
ablesori n
statist
icall
anguage‘ discretev ari
ables’
.Agei sanexampl eofcont i
nuousv ari
able,but
thenumberofchi l
dren isan exampl eofnon- conti
nuousv ari
able.Ifonev ari
able
dependsuponori saconsequenceoft heotherv ar
iable,itist er
medasadependent
variabl
e,andt hev ari
ablet hatisant ecedenttothedependentv ariabl
eistermedasan
i
ndependentv ariable.Fori nstance,i
fwesayt hatheightdependsuponage, thenheight
i
sadependentv ari
ableandagei sani ndependentv ariable.Further,i
finaddi ti
ont o
beingdependentuponage, heightalsodependsupont hei ndivi
dual’ssex,t
henhei ghtis
adependentv ariableandageandsexar eindependentv ariables.

2.Extraneousv ariabl e:Independentv ari

ablesthatarenotr el
atedtot hepur poseoft he
study,butmayaf fectt hedependentv ari
ablearet ermed asext raneousv ariabl
es.
Suppose t her esear cherwant st ot estthe hypothesist hatt her eisa r elationship
betweenchi ldren‘sschoolper for manceandt hei
rsel f-
conf i
dence,i nwhi chcaset he
l
atterisani ndependentv ar
iableandt heformer,adependentv ari
able.Int hiscont ext
,
i
ntell
igencemayal soi nfl
uencet heschoolper f
ormance, butsi nceitisnotrel atedt othe
purposeoft hest udyunder takenbyt heresearcher
,itwi llbet er
medasanext raneous
vari
able.What ev eref fecti snot icedondependentv ar i
ableasar esultofext raneous
vari
able(s)istechni cal l
ydescr ibedasan‘ experi
mentaler r
or’.Ast udymustal way sbe
sodesi gnedt hatt heef fectupont hedependentv ariablei sattr
ibutedent irelyt ot he
i
ndependentv ariable( s),andnott osomeext r
aneousv ariableorvariables.

3.Cont r
ol:Oneimpor t
antcharacteristi
cofagoodr esearchdesignistomi ni
miset he
i
nfluenceoreffectofextraneousv ariabl
e(s)
.Thetechnicalterm‘contr
ol’i
susedwhen
wedesi gnt hestudymi nimisi
ngt heef fect
sofextraneousi ndependentvari
ables.In
experi
ment alr
esearches,theterm‘ control
’isusedtor ef
ert orest
rai
ninexperiment al
conditi
ons.

4.Confoundedrel
ati
onshi
p:Whent hedependentvar
iablei
snotfr
eefr
om t
hei nf
luence
ofextr
aneousv ari
abl
e(s)
,ther el
ati
onshi
pbet weenthedependentandindependent
var
iabl
esissaidtobeconfoundedbyanextraneousvar
iabl
e(s)
.

5.Resear chhy pothesis:Whenapr edictionorahy pothesi

sedr elat
ionshipist obe
test
ed bysci entif
ic met hods,iti st ermed as r esear
ch hy pothesis.The r esearch
hypothesi
sisapr edicti
vestatementt hatr el
atesanindependentv ariabl
et oadependent
vari
able.Usuall
yar esearchhy pothesi
smustcont ai
n,atl
east,onei ndependentandone
dependentv ar
iabl
e.Pr edi
ctiv
est atement swhi charenottobeobj ect i
velyveri
fi
edort he
rel
ati
onshipsthatar eassumedbutnott obet estedarenotter
medr esear chhypotheses.

6.Experi
ment
alandnon-experimentalhypot
hesi
s-t
esti
ngresearch:Whent hepurpose
ofresear
chi
stotestar
esear chhypothesi
s,i
tist
ermedashy pot
hesis-
test
ingresearch.
I
tcanbeoft heexperi
ment aldesignoroft henon-
exper
imentaldesign.Researchin
whi cht hei ndependentv ar
iablei smani pulatedi st er med‘ exper i
ment alhy pothesis-
testingr esearch’andar esearchi nwhichani ndependentv ari
abl ei snotmani pulatedi s
called ‘ non-experimental hy pothesis-t
esting r esear ch’. For i nst ance,suppose a
resear cherwant st ost udywhet herintel
ligenceaf f ect sr eadingabi li
tyf oragr oupof
student s and f ort his purpose he r andoml y select s 50 st udent s and t est st heir
i
nt ell
igenceandr eadingabi l
itybycal cul
at i
ngt hecoef f i
cientofcor relat
ionbet weent he
twoset sofscor es.Thisi sanexampl eofnon- experiment alhy pot hesi s-
t esti
ngr esearch
becauseher eint heindependentv ari
able,intell
igence,i snotmani pulated.Butnow
supposet hatourr esearcherr andoml ysel ects50st udent sfr om agr oupofst udent s
who ar et ot akeacour sei nst ati
sti
csandt hendi videst hem i ntot wo gr oupsby
randoml yassigning25t oGr oupA, theusualst udiespr ogr amme, and25t oGr oupB, the
speci alstudiespr ogramme.Att heendoft hecour se,headmi ni stersat estt oeach
groupi nor dertoj udget heef fecti
venessoft het raini ngpr ogr ammeont hest udent’s
per f
or mance- l
evel.Thisi san exampl eofexper i
ment alhy pot hesi s-testi
ng r esearch
becausei nt hiscaset hei ndependentv ar i
able,viz.
,t het ypeoft r ainingpr ogramme,i s
mani pulated.

7.Exper i
ment alandcont r
olgroups:Inanexper iment alhypot
hesis-
testi
ngr esear
ch
whenagr oupi sexposedt ousualconditi
ons,i
tistermeda‘ contr
olgroup’,
butwhent he
groupi sexposedt osomenov elorspecialcondi t
ion,itistermedan‘ experimental
group’.I
nt heabov eill
ustrat
ion,
theGroupAcanbecal l
edacont r
olgroupandt heGroup
B anexper imentalgr oup.Ifbothgr oupsA and B ar eexposedt o specialstudi
es
programmes, thenbothgr oupswouldbet ermed‘exper i
mentalgroups.
’Iti
spossi bl
eto
designstudi eswhi chincludeonlyexperiment
algr oupsorst udi
eswhi chincludeboth
experiment alandcontrolgroups.

8.Tr eatments:Thedi f
ferentconditi
onsunderwhichexperi
mentalandcontrolgr
oups
areputar eusuallyreferredtoas‘ t
reatment
s’.I
ntheill
ustr
ati
ontakenabove,thetwo
treatmentsar etheusualst udi
espr ogrammeand t hespecialst
udiesprogramme.
Similarl
y,ifwewantt odet er
minet hroughanexperi
mentt hecomparati
veimpactof
threev ari
eti
esoff er
til
izersont hey i
eldofwheat,i
nt hatcasethethreevari
eti
esof
ferti
l
izerswil
lbetreatedast hr
eet r
eatments.

9.Experi
ment :Thepr ocessofexami ningthetr
uthofastati
sticalhy pothesi
s,rel
ati
ngt o
somer esearchpr oblem,i sknownasanexper iment.Forexampl e,wecanconductan
exper
imentt oexami net heusef ulnessofacer t
ainnewlydev elopeddr ug.Experi
ment s
canbeoft wot ypes’v i
z.,absoluteexper imentandcompar ati
v eexper i
ment.Ifwewant
todeterminet hei mpactofaf ertil
izeront heyieldofacr op,iti sacaseofabsol ute
exper
iment ;butifwewantt odet ermi netheimpactofonef erti
lizerascompar edtot he
i
mpactofsomeot herf erti
li
zer,ourexper i
mentt henwil
lbet ermedasacompar ative
exper
iment .Often,weunder takecompar ati
veexperi
mentswhenwet alkofdesignsof
exper
iment s.
10.Experi
mentalunit
(s):The pr
e-det
ermi
ned plots orthe bl
ocks,where di
ff
erent
tr
eatment
sareused,areknownasexperi
mentalunit
s.Suchexperi
mentaluni
tsmustbe
sel
ected(
defi
ned)ver
ycareful
l
y.

Di
ff
erentResear
chDesi
gns

Diff
erentresear
chdesignscanbeconv enientlydescr
ibedifwecategori
zethem as:(1)
researchdesignincaseofexplor
ator
yr esearchstudi
es;(2)resear
chdesignincaseof
descri
ptiv
e and diagnosti
cresearch studies,and (3)r esear
ch desi
gn in case of
hypothesi
s-test
ingr
esearchst
udies.

1.Resear ch desi
gn i n caseofexpl oratoryr esearch studi es:Expl oratoryr esear ch
studiesar ealsot er
medasf or mulativer esearchst udies.Themai npur poseofsuch
studiesist hatoffor
mul ati
ngapr oblem f ormor epr eciseinvestigati
onorofdev eloping
thewor kinghy pot
hesesf rom anoper ationalpointofv iew.Themaj oremphasi si nsuch
studies is on the discoveryofi deas and i nsights.As such t he r esear ch desi gn
appropriatef orsuch st udies mustbe f l
exible enough t o pr ov
ide oppor t
unityf or
consideringdi f
fer
entaspect sofapr oblem underst udy.Inbui l
tflexibil
ityinr esear ch
designisneededbecauset her esearchpr oblem, broadlydefinedi ni
tiall
y,ist r
ansf ormed
i
ntoonewi thmorepr eci
semeani ngi nexpl oratorystudies,whi chfactmaynecessi tate
changesi nt heresearchpr oceduref orgat heringrelevantdat a.Gener ally,thef oll
owi ng
threemet hodsinthecont extofr esear chdesi gnf orsuchst udiesar et alkedabout :(a)
thesur veyofconcer ningl i
terature;(b)t heexper iencesur veyand( c)theanal ysisof
‘
insight-
stimulati
ng’exampl es.

Thesur veyofconcer ni
ngli
teratur
ehappenst obet hemostsi mpleandf rui
tf
ulmet hod
off or
mul at
ingpr ecisel
yther esear
chpr obl
em ordev elopinghy pothesis.Hypotheses
statedbyear li
erwor ker
smayber evi
ewedandt heirusef ulnessbeev aluatedasabasi s
forfurt
herr esearch.Itmayalsobeconsi deredwhet hert heal r
eadyst at
edhy potheses
suggestnew hy pothesi
s.I
nt hiswayt heresearchershoul dr evi
ew andbui ldupont he
workal readydone byot hers,buti n cases where hy pot heses have noty etbeen
formulated,hi stask istor evi
ew the avail
able mat erialforder iv
ing the rel
evant
hypothesesf rom it
.

Besi
des,thebibli
ographicalsurveyofst udi
es,alreadymadei none’
sareaofinter
est
mayaswel lasmadebyt heresearcherforpr
eciselyformul
atingthepr
oblem.Heshould
al
somakeanat temptt oapplyconcept sandt heoriesdevelopedindi
ff
erentr
esearch
context
st otheareainwhi chhei shimselfwor ki
ng.Somet imestheworksofcreat
ive
wri
tersalsoprovi
deaf erti
l
egr oundf orhypothesisformulati
onandassuchmaybe
l
ookedi
ntobyt
her
esear
cher
.

Exampl
e:

(a)ATVmanuf acturi
ngcompanyfeel
sthati
tsmar
ketshar
eisdecl
i
ningwher
east
he
over
all
tel
evi
sionindustr
yisdoi
ngv
erywell
.

(b)Duetoatradeembar
goimposedbyacountr
y,t
ext
il
esexport
sar
edownandhence
salesofacompanymaki
nggar
mentforexpor
tsi
sonthedecl
ine.

Theabov
einf
ormat
ionmaybeusedt
opi
npoi
ntt
her
easonf
ordecl
i
ningsal
es

Experi
encesurveymeanst hesurv
eyofpeopl ewhohav ehadpr acti
calexperi
encewith
theprobl
em t obest udi
ed.Theobjectofsuchasur veyi st oobt aininsi
ghtint
ot he
rel
ati
onshi
psbet weenv ar
iabl
esandnew i deasrelat
ingt ot her esearchprobl
em.For
suchasurveypeoplewhoar ecompetentandcancont ri
butenewi deasmaybecar efull
y
sel
ectedasr espondentstoensur
ear epr
esentati
onofdi fferentt ypesofexperi
ence.
Therespondentssoselect
edmayt henbeinterv
iewedbyt heinv esti
gator.

Theresearchermustpr
epar
eani
nter
view schedul
efort
hesy
stemat
icquest
ioni
ngof
i
nfor
mant s.

Butt hei ntervi

ew mustensur efl
exibi
li
tyinthesenset hatt her espondent sshoul dbe
all
owed t or aise issues and questi
ons whi ch the inv estigat orhas notpr eviously
consider ed.Gener all
y,theexperi
encecol l
ecti
ngi nterv
iew i sl i
kelyt obel ongandmay
l
astf orf ew hour s.Hence,i ti
sof tenconsi dereddesi rabl et o sendacopyoft he
questionst obedi scussedt otherespondent swel linadv ance.Thi swillalsogiv ean
oppor tunitytother espondentsf
ordoingsomeadv ancet hinki ngov erthevariousissues
i
nv ol
v edsot hat,att het i
meofi nt
erview,theymaybeabl et ocont r
ibuteeffectively
.
Thus,anexper iencesur veymayenabl ether esearchert odef inet hepr oblem mor e
concisel yandhel pi nt hefor
mulati
onoft her esearchhy pot hesis.Thi ssur veymayas
wellpr ovi
dei nformationaboutthepr acti
calpossi bi
li
tiesf ordoi ngdi ff
erenttypesof
resear ch.

Exampl
e:

(a)Agr oupofhousewi
vesmaybeappr
oachedf
ort
hei
rchoi
cef
ora"
readyt
ocook
product
".

(b)Apubl i
shermightwanttofi
ndoutt her easonf
orpoorci
rcul
ati
onofnewspaper
i
ntroducedrecentl
y.Hemightmeet(
i)Newspaperseller
s(i
i
)Publi
cr eadi
ngr
oom (i
ii
)
Generalpubl
ic(i
v)Busi
nesscommuni
ty,
et c.

Analy
sisof‘insi
ght-st
imulat
ing’examples i
salso afr
uitf
ulmet hodforsuggest
ing
hypot
heses f
orr esearch.Itis part
icul
arl
y sui
tabl
ein areas wher
et her
eisl i
ttl
e
experiencetoser veasagui de.Thismet hodconsi stsoft heintensi v
est udyofsel ect ed
i
nstancesoft hephenomenoni nwhi chonei sinterested.Fort hispur poset heex isting
records,ifany,maybeexami ned,theunst ruct
uredi nter
viewingmayt akeplace,orsome
otherappr oachmaybeadopt ed.Atti
tudeoft heinv est
igator,thei ntensi
tyoft hest udy
andt heabi li
tyoft her esearchert odraw t ogetherdi versei nfor
mat i
oni nt
oauni fied
i
nterpretati
onar ethemai nfeatureswhi chmaket hi smet hodanappr opri
ateprocedur e
forev okinginsights.Ingener al,casest hatprovideshar pcont rastsorhav est riking
features are consi dered relati
vely mor e usefulwhi l
e adopt ing t his met hod of
hypothesesf ormulation.

2.Resear chdesi gni ncaseofdescr i

ptiv eanddi agnost icr esear chst udies:Descr ipti
ve
resear ch st udies ar et hose st udies whi ch ar e concer ned wi th describing t he
charact eristicsofapar ti
cularindividual ,orofagr oup,wher easdi agnosticresear ch
studiesdet er minet hef requencywi thwhi chsomet hingoccur sori tsassoci ationwi th
somet hingel se.Thest udiesconcer ningwhet hercer tainv ariablesar eassoci atedar e
exampl esofdi agnost i
cr esearch st udi es.Asagai nstt his,st udiesconcer ned wi th
specificpr edictions,wi thnar rati
onoff actsandchar act eristicsconcer ningindividual,
grouporsi tuat i
onar eal lexampl esofdescr i
ptiveresear chst udies.Mostoft hesoci al
resear chcomesundert hiscat egory.Fr om t hepoi ntofv i
ewoft her esear chdesi gn,the
descr i
pt i
v easwel lasdi agnost i
cstudi esshar ecommonr equi rement sandassuchwe
maygr oupt oget hert heset wot ypesofr esear chst udies.I ndescr iptiv
easwel lasi n
diagnost icst udies,t her esearchermustbeabl etodef inecl early,whathewant st o
measur eandmustf i
ndadequat emet hodsf ormeasur ingi tal ongwi thacl earcut
definiti
onof‘ popul ation’hewant st ost udy.Si ncet heai mi st oobt aincompl eteand
accur atei nfor mat ioni nt hesai dst udies,t hepr ocedur et obeusedmustbecar efully
planned.Ther esear chdesi gnmustmakeenoughpr ovisionf orpr otecti
onagai nstbi as
andmustmaxi mi ser el
iabi l
it
y,withdueconcer nf ort heeconomi calcompl et
ionoft he
resear chst udy .Thedesi gni nsuchst udiesmustber igidandnotf l
exibleandmust
focusat tentionont hefol l
owing:

(
a)Formul
ati
ngt
heobj
ect
iveoft
hest
udy(
whatt
hest
udyi
saboutandwhyi
sitbei
ng
made?
)

(b)Designi
ngt
hemet
hodsofdat
acol
l
ect
ion(
whatt
echni
quesofgat
her
ingdat
awi
l
lbe
adopted?)

(
c)Sel
ect
ingt
hesampl
e(howmuchmat
eri
alwi
l
lbeneeded?
)

(d)Col
lecti
ngthedata(wherecant
her
equi
reddat
abef
oundandwi
thwhatt
imeper
iod
shoul
dt hedat
aber el
ated?
)

(
e)Pr
ocessi
ngandanal
ysi
ngt
hedat
a.
(
f)Repor
ti
ngt
hef
indi
ngs.

Inadescri
pti
ve/
diagnost
icst
udythefi
rstst
epistospeci
fytheobj
ecti
veswit
hsuf f
ici
ent
preci
siont
oensurethatthedatacol
l
ectedarerel
evant
.Ift
hisisnotdonecaref
ull
y,the
studymaynotprovi
dethedesir
edinf
ormati
on.

Thencomest hequest i
onofsel ect
ingthemet hodsbywhi chthedataaretobeobt ained.
I
not herwor ds,techniquesforcol l
ecti
ngt hei nf
ormationmustbedev ised.Sev eral
methods( v
iz.,observ
ation,questi
onnaires,i
ntervi
ewing,examinat
ionofr ecords,etc.
),
wit
ht hei
rmer it
sandl i
mi t
ati
ons,areav ail
abl
ef orthepurposeandt heresearchermay
useoneormor eofthesemet hods.

While designing data-coll

ecti
on procedur e,adequate safeguards againstbias and
unrel
iabi
li
tymustbeensur ed.Whichevermet hodi ssel
ect
ed,quest ionsmustbewel l
examinedandbemadeunambi guous;interviewersmustbei nstructednottoexpress
thei
rownopi nion;observersmustbet rainedsot hatt
heyunifor
ml yrecordagivenit
em
ofbehav i
our .Itisalway sdesirabl
etopr etestthedatacollect
ioni nstr
umentsbefore
theyarefinall
yusedf ort hestudypurposes.I notherwords,wecansayt hat“st
ruct
ured
i
nstrument s”areusedi nsuchst udi
es.

Inmostoft hedescri
ptive/diagnosticst udiest heresearchertakesoutsampl e(
s)and
thenwi shestomakest atement saboutt hepopul ati
onont hebasi soft hesample
analysi
soranal y
ses.Mor eof tenthannot ,sampl ehast obedesi gned.Dif
fer
entsample
designshavebeendi scussedi ndetailinasepar at
echapt erint hi
sbook.Her ewemay
onlyment i
onthattheproblem ofdesi gningsampl esshoul dbet ackl
edinsuchaf ashi
on
thatthesampl esmayy ieldaccur ateinformat ionwi thami ni
mum amountofr esear
ch
effort
.Usuall
yoneormor ef ormsofpr obabi l
i
tysampl ing,orwhati softendescri
bedas
random sampling,ar
eused.

Thedat acoll
ectedmustbeprocessedandanal
ysed.Thi
sincl
udesstepsli
kecodingthe
i
nter
view r epl
ies,obser
vat
ions,etc.
;tabul
ati
ng the data;and perf
orming several
st
ati
sticalcomputati
ons.

Final
l
y ,stati
sti
calcomput at
ionsareneededandassuchav er
ages,percent
agesand
vari
ouscoef fi
cientsmustbewor kedout.Pr
obabil
ityandsampli
nganaly
sismayaswel l
beused.Theappr opr
iat
estati
sti
caloper
ati
ons,alongwit
htheuseofappr opr
iat
etest
s
ofsi gni
ficance should be carr
ied outto safeguardthe drawi
ng ofconclusi
ons
concerningthest udy.

Lastofal lcomes t he questi

on ofr epor
ti
ng the fi
ndings.Thisi st he t
ask of
communicati
ngt hefi
ndingstoot hersandtheresearchermustdoi ti naneffi
cient
manner.Thelayoutofthereportneedstobewellplannedsot hatallt
hingsrel
ati
ngt o
ther
esearchstudymaybewel lpresent
edinsi
mpleandef f
ectivesty
le.
Thus,t
her esearchdesigni ncaseofdescr iptiv
e/di
agnosticstudiesisacompar at
ive
desi
gnthr
owi nglightonallpointsnarr
atedabov eandmustbepr eparedkeepinginvi
ew
theobj
ect
ive(s)oft hestudyandt heresourcesav ai
lable.Howev er,i
tmustensur ethe
mini
misat
ionofbi asandmaxi misati
onofr eliabil
i
tyoftheev i
dencecol l
ected.Thesaid
desi
gncanbeappr opri
atel
yr ef
erredtoasasur veydesignsinceittakesint
oaccountall
thest
epsinvolvedinasur veyconcerni
ngaphenomenont obestudied.

3.Resear chdesi gnincaseofhy pothesi

s-test
ingresear chstudies:Hypothesis-
testi
ng
research studies (general
lyknown as exper i
ment alst udi
es)ar ethose wher et he
researchert estst he hypotheses ofcausalr el
ationships bet
ween v ari
ables.Such
studiesrequireproceduresthatwi l
lnotonlyreducebi asandi ncreaser
eliabil
it
y,butwill
permi tdr
awi nginferencesaboutcausal i
ty.Usuall
yexper imentsmeetthisr equir
ement .
Hence,whenwet al
kofr esearchdesigninsuchst udies,weof t
enmeant hedesi gnof
experiments.

Exampl
e:

The new adverti

sing campai
gn a companydeveloped has r
esul
ted i
n percentage
i
ncreaseinsalesort hesalesdi
scountstr
ategyacompanyf oll
owedhasr esult
edi n
per
centageincreaseinsales.Inbothoft heseexamples,market
ingmanager sar e
makingacasual st
atement.

Basi
cPr
inci
plesofExper
iment
alDesi
gns
Prof
essorFisherhasenumeratedthr
eeprinci
plesofexperi
mentaldesi
gns:(
1)Pri
nci
ple
ofRepl
icat
ion;(2)Pr
inci
pleofRandomizat
ion;and(3)Pr
inci
pleofLocalCont
rol
.

Accor dingt othePr i

ncipl
eofRepl ication,theexper i
mentshoul dber epeat edmor et han
once.Thus,eacht r
eatmenti sappliedi nmanyexper i
ment alunitsi nst eadofone.By
doingsot hestati
sti
calaccur acyoft heexper i
ment sisi ncreased.Forexampl e,suppose
wear etoexami netheeffectoft wov ari
eti
esofr ice.Fort hispur posewemaydi videt he
fi
eldi ntot wopar tsandgr ow onev ar i
etyinonepar tandt heot herv arietyint heot her
part.Wecant hencompar et hey i
eldoft het wopar tsanddr awconcl usi onont hatbasi s.
Buti fwear etoappl ythepr i
ncipleofr epli
cationt othisexper iment ,thenwef i
rstdi v i
de
thefieldi ntoseveralpart
s,growonev ariet
yinhal fofthesepar tsandt heot herv arietyin
ther emai ningparts.Wecant hencol l
ectthedat aofy i
eldoft het wov arieti
esanddr aw
concl usionbycompar i
ngt hesame.Ther esultsoobt ainedwi llbemor er eliablei n
compar i
sont otheconclusionwedr awwi t
houtappl y
ingt hepr i
ncipleofr epli
cation.The
entir
eexper i
mentcanev enber epeat edsev eraltimesf orbet terr esul ts.Concept ually
repli
cati
ondoesnotpr esentanydi f
fi
cul
ty,butcomput at
ional
lyi
tdoes.Forexampl e,i
f
anexper imentrequi
ri
ngat wo-wayanalysisofvariancei srepli
cat
ed,i
twil
lthenr equi
rea
three-wayanalysi
sofv ar
iancesincerepl
icat
ionitsel fmaybeasour ceofvariat
ioninthe
data.Howev er
,itshouldber emember edt hatr epli
cationisintr
oducedi nor derto
i
ncr easetheprecisi
onofast udy;thati
st osay,t
oi ncreasetheaccur
acywi t
hwhi chthe
mai neffect
sandi nt
eracti
onscanbeest i
mat ed.

ThePr inci
pleofRandomi zat ionpr ovidespr otection,whenweconductanexper i
ment ,
agai nstt heeffectofext raneousf act
or sbyr andomi zat i
on.Inotherwor ds,t hispr i
ncipl
e
i
ndi cat esthatweshoul ddesi gnorpl ant heexper imenti nsuchawayt hatthev ariat
ions
caused byext r
aneousf act orscan al lbecombi ned undert hegener alheadi ng of
“chance. ”Forinstance, i
fwegr owonev ar i
etyofr i
ce, say,inthef i
rsthal foft hepar tsof
af i
el dandt heot herv ari
etyisgr owni nt heot herhal f,
t henitisj
ustpossi blet hatthesoi l
fert
ilitymaybedi f
ferentint hef i
rsthalfincompar isont otheot herhalf .Ifthisisso, our
resul t
swoul dnotber eal
isti
c.I nsuchasi tuation,wemayassi gnt hev ar i
etyofr icetobe
growni ndiff
erentpar tsoft hef ieldont hebasi sofsomer andom sampl i
ngt echnique
i
.e.,wemayappl yr andomi zat ionpr i
ncipl eandpr otectour sel
vesagai nstt heef fectsof
theext raneousf actors(soilf erti
lit
ydiffer encesi nt hegi vencase) .Assuch, throught he
appl i
cat ionoft hepr i
ncipl
eofr andomi zat ion,wecanhav eabet terest imat eoft he
exper iment alerr
or .

ThePr incipleofLocalCont r olisanot herimpor tantprincipleofexper iment aldesi gns.

Underi tt he ext raneous f act or,the known sour ce ofv ariabilit
y,is made t ov ar y
deli
beratelyov eraswi dear angeasnecessar yandt hisneedt obedonei nsuchaway
thatt he v ariabi l
i
tyi tcauses can be measur ed and hence el i
minat ed f r
om t he
experiment aler ror.Thi smeanst hatweshoul dpl antheexper i
menti namannert hatwe
canper form at wo-wayanal ysisofv ari
ance,i nwhi chthet otalv ari
abil
it
yoft hedat ai s
divi
dedi ntot hreecomponent sat tr
ibutedtot reatments( varietiesofr icei nourcase) ,
theext r
aneousf act or( soilfertil
i
tyinourcase)andexper iment alerror
.I notherwor ds,
according t ot he pr i
nciple ofl ocalcont rol ,we f ir
stdi v i
de t he fi
eldi nt o sev er al
homogeneouspar ts,knownasbl ocks,andt heneachsuchbl ocki sdividedi ntopar ts
equal t
ot henumberoft r
eatment s.Thent het reatmentsar er andoml yassi gnedt ot hese
part
sofabl ock.Di v i
dingt hef ieldintosev eralhomogenouspar tsi sknownas‘ bl
ocki ng’ .
Ingener al
,bl ocksar et hel evelsatwhi chwehol danext raneousf actorfixed, sot hatwe
canmeasur ei tscont r
ibutiont ot het otalvariabili
tyofthedat abymeansofat wo- way
analysisofv ariance.I nbr ief
,t hrought hepr incipleoflocalcont rolwecanel i
mi natet he
vari
abili
tyduet oext raneousf actor(s)from theexper i
ment aler ror.