Research Design

The research design refers to the overall strategy that you choose to integrate the different
components of the study in a coherent and logical way, thereby, ensuring you will
effectively address the research problem; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection,
measurement, and analysis of data.
A researcher must have a clear understanding of the various types of research design to select
which model to implement for a study. Like research itself, the design of your study can be
broadly classified into quantitative and qualitative.

The function of a research design is to ensure that the evidence obtained enables you to
effectively address the research problem as unambiguously as possible. In social sciences
research, obtaining evidence relevant to the research problem generally entails specifying the
type of evidence needed to test a theory, to evaluate a program, or to accurately describe a
phenomenon. However, researchers can often begin their investigations far too early, before they
have thought critically about about what information is required to answer the study's research
questions. Without attending to these design issues beforehand, the conclusions drawn risk being
weak and unconvincing and, consequently, will fail to adequate address the overall research
problem.

Qualitative: Qualitative research determines relationships between collected data and

observations based on mathematical calculations. Theories related to a naturally existing
phenomenon can be proved or disproved using statistical methods. Researchers rely on
qualitative research methods that conclude “why” a particular theory exists along with “what”
respondents have to say about it.

Quantitative: Quantitative research is for cases where statistical conclusions to collect

actionable insights are essential. Numbers provide a better perspective to make critical business
decisions. Quantitative research methods are necessary for the growth of any organization.
Insights drawn from hard numerical data and analysis prove to be highly effective when making
decisions related to the future of the business.

Survey research 

Survey research is a research method involving the use of standardised questionnaires or

interviews to collect data about people and their preferences, thoughts, and behaviours in a
systematic manner.

The survey method can be used for descriptive, exploratory, or explanatory research. This
method is best suited for studies that have individual people as the unit of analysis. Although
other units of analysis, such as groups, organisations or dyads—pairs of organisations, such as
buyers and sellers—are also studied using surveys.
Strengths of survey research

Survey research has several inherent strengths compared to other research methods. First,
surveys are an excellent vehicle for measuring a wide variety of unobservable data, such as
people’s preferences (e.g., political orientation), traits (e.g., self-esteem), attitudes (e.g., toward
immigrants), beliefs (e.g., about a new law), behaviours (e.g., smoking or drinking habits), or
factual information (e.g., income). Second, survey research is also ideally suited for remotely
collecting data about a population that is too large to observe directly. A large area—such as an
entire country—can be covered by postal, email, or telephone surveys using meticulous sampling
to ensure that the population is adequately represented in a small sample. Third, due to their
unobtrusive nature and the ability to respond at one’s convenience, questionnaire surveys are
preferred by some respondents. Fourth, interviews may be the only way of reaching certain
population groups such as the homeless or illegal immigrants for which there is no sampling
frame available. Fifth, large sample surveys may allow detection of small effects even while
analysing multiple variables, and depending on the survey design, may also allow comparative
analysis of population subgroups (i.e., within-group and between-group analysis). Sixth, survey
research is more economical in terms of researcher time, effort and cost than other methods such
as experimental research and case research.

Weaknesses of survey research

At the same time, survey research also has some unique disadvantages. It is subject to a large
number of biases such as non-response bias, sampling bias, social desirability bias, and recall
bias.

Depending on how the data is collected, survey research can be divided into two broad
categories: questionnaire surveys (which may be postal, group-administered, or online
surveys), and interview surveys (which may be personal, telephone, or focus group interviews).
Questionnaires are instruments that are completed in writing by respondents, while interviews
are completed by the interviewer based on verbal responses provided by respondents. As
discussed below, each type has its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of their costs,
coverage of the target population, and researcher’s flexibility in asking questions.

A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a set of questions (items) intended to

capture responses from respondents in a standardised manner. Questions may be unstructured
(open-ended) or structured (close-ended). Unstructured questions ask respondents to provide a
response in their own words, while structured questions ask respondents to select an answer from
a given set of choices. Subjects’ responses to individual questions (items) on a structured
questionnaire may be aggregated into a composite scale or index for statistical analysis.
Questions should be designed in such a way that respondents are able to read, understand, and
respond to them in a meaningful way, and hence the survey method may not be appropriate or
practical for certain demographic groups such as children or the illiterate.

What is mall intercept interview?

 A mall intercept interview is a research method in which mall visitors are stopped for conducting
an interview. Often, respondents are given a free sample of a product or reward for their
participation. Mall intercept surveys target audience from different demographics and collect
feedback at the point of experience.

Mall intercept interviews aim to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data for market research.
To achieve this goal, interviewers ask a wide variety of questions, such as:

 Multiple-choice questions
 Rank order questions
 Rating questions
 Smiley questions
 Open-ended questions
Earlier the data collection through an interview in the mall was done by a person using pen and
paper. But nowadays, it is done using iPad, iPhone or Android devices.

Mall intercept interviews steps

1. Screen participants
Before the interviewer speaks to the potential respondents, one must first choose people who
meet specific criteria. For instance, a study about children’s clothing might need the
interviewer to reach out to the kids and young adults.

2. Stop mall visitors

The mall visitors are stopped and politely asked if they would like to answer a few questions
for a survey.

3. Survey on the spot

Once it is determined that a person meets the needs of the mall intercept interview, the
interviewer will ask a set of questions. However, the respondents can also be requested to
answer the survey questionnaire on the kiosk devices.

4. Invite participants to a research facility nearby

This step is optional. Depending on the requirements, the participants are either surveyed
immediately or invited to the research facilities located in separate areas of malls.

Benefits of mall intercept interviews and surveys

 Generally, it is easier to convince someone to participate in a survey face-to-face as compared to
the same over the phone or email.
 Mall intercept interviews allow interviewers to make sure they are interacting with a real person.
Also, the researchers can conduct the surveys at different hours of the day to ensure an accurate
sample audience.
 The memory of the experience is still afresh in the brain while the shoppers are just leaving the
store. This means the data collected by the intercept interviews in the mall is highly accurate
data.
 Respondents can ask for more information if they do not fully understand the question. This is
not possible in case of online interviews and surveys. Similarly, interviewers too can ask open-
ended questions to get a detailed response.
 Mall intercepts interviews can engage consumers during the actual act of shopping. This gives a
chance to understand their thought process and what drives them to make a purchase.
 Interviewers can verify the demographics of the people they speak with. For example, age,
gender, language, and location can be confirmed before starting the survey. A good interviewer
asks the sensitive questions carefully or avoids them completely, depending on the situation.
This cannot be achieved through the online interviews.

Pilot testing
Pilot testing is a rehearsal of your research study, allowing you to test your research approach
with a small number of test participants before you conduct your main study. It is used for the
specific pre-testing of a particular research instrument such as a questionnaire or interview
schedule. Although this is an additional step, it may be the time best spent on any research
project .
A pilot survey is a strategy used to test the questionnaire using a smaller sample compared to the
planned sample size. In this phase of conducting a survey, the questionnaire is administered to a
percentage of the total sample population, or in more informal cases just to a convenience
sample.

Advantages of a Pilot Survey

Conducting a pilot survey prior to the actual, large-scale survey presents many benefits and
advantages for the researcher. One of these is the exploration of the particular issues that may
potentially have an antagonistic impact on the survey results. These issues include the
appropriateness of questions to the target population.
A pilot survey also tests the correctness of the instructions to be measured by whether all the
respondents in the pilot sample are able to follow the directions as indicated. It also provides
better information on whether the type of survey is effective in fulfilling the purpose of the
study. Practically speaking, pilot surveys save financial resources because if errors are found in
the questionnaire or interview early on, there would be a lesser chance of unreliable results or
worse, that you would need to start over again after conducting the survey.

Levels of Measurement
1. Nominal 2. Ordinal 3. Interval 4. Ratio

Nominal Scales - there must be distinct classes but these classes have no quantitative properties.
Therefore, no comparison can be made in terms of one category being higher than the other.
For example - there are two classes for the variable gender -- males and females. There are no
quantitative properties for this variable or these classes and, therefore, gender is a nominal variable.

Other Examples:

country of origin

biological sex (male or female)

animal or non-animal

married vs. single

 Sometimes numbers are used to designate category membership

Example:

Country of Origin

1 = United States 3 = Canada

2 = Mexico 4 = Other

 However, in this case, it is important to keep in mind that the numbers do not have intrinsic
meaning

Ordinal Scales - there are distinct classes but these classes have a natural ordering or ranking. The
differences can be ordered on the basis of magnitude.

 For example - final position of horses in a thoroughbred race is an ordinal variable. The horses
finish first, second, third, fourth, and so on. The difference between first and second is not
necessarily equivalent to the difference between second and third, or between third and fourth.

Interval Scales - it is possible to compare differences in magnitude, but importantly the zero point
does not have a natural meaning. It captures the properties of nominal and ordinal scales -- used by
most psychological tests.

 Designates an equal-interval ordering - The distance between, for example, a 1 and a 2 is the
same as the distance between a 4 and a 5

Example - Celsius temperature is an interval variable. It is meaningful to say that 25 degrees

Celsius is 3 degrees hotter than 22 degrees Celsius, and that 17 degrees Celsius is the same
amount hotter (3 degrees) than 14 degrees Celsius. Notice, however, that 0 degrees Celsius
does not have a natural meaning. That is, 0 degrees Celsius does not mean the absence of heat!

Rating Techniques for Measurement

 Some items, such as age, newspaper circulation, or number of radios in the house, can be
adequately measured without scaling techniques.
  Measurement of other variables, such as attitude toward TV news or gratification received from
going to a movie theater, generally requires the use of scales.

Guttman Scale
Guttman scaling, also called scalogram analysis, is based on the idea that items can be arranged
along a continuum in such a way that a person who agrees with an item or finds an item
acceptable will also agree with or find acceptable all other items expressing a less extreme
position.

You opinion about immigrants….

Your opinion about indecent TV programs

1. Indecent programming on TV is harmful to society.

2. Children should not be allowed to watch indecent TV shows.

3. Television station managers should not allow indecent programs on their stations.

4. The government should ban indecent programming from TV.

Likert Scales
 Perhaps the most commonly used scale in

 Most mass media research is measured on the Likert scale, also called the summated rating
approach.
  A number of statements are developed with respect to a topic, and respondents can strongly
agree, agree, be neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statements

 Each response option is weighted, and each subject’s responses are added to produce a single
score on the topic.

1. Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to own broadcasting stations.

 Strongly agree 5

 Agree 4

 Neutral 3

 Disagree 2

 Strongly disagree 1

2. Prohibiting foreign ownership of broadcasting stations is bad for business.

 Strongly agree 1

 Agree 2

 Neutral 3

 Disagree 4

 Strongly disagree 5

Semantic Differential Scales

 Another commonly used scaling procedure is the semantic differential technique.

As originally conceived by Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum (1957), this technique is used to
measure the meaning an item has for an individual.

To use the technique, a name or a concept is placed at the top of a series of seven-point scales
anchored by bipolar attitudes.

The bipolar adjectives that typically “anchor” such evaluative scales are pleasant/ unpleasant,
valuable/worthless, honest/ dishonest, nice/awful, clean/dirty, fair/unfair, and good/bad.

Unique set of anchoring adjectives be developed for each particular measurement situation.

Time Magazine

 Biased : : : : : : Unbiased

 Trustworthy : : : : : : Untrustworthy

 Valuable : : : : : : Worthless

 Unfair : : : : : : Fair