CHAPTER 5

1. Explain why research design is important in a research process.

A research design is the plan of study followed to fulfill the research objectives or test the
hypotheses of a study.

2. What are the three basic research designs? Explain each of the three research
designs with examples.
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research is undertaken when a researcher intends to explore
something new or clarify ambiguous problems in a particular situation.
 An example of this kind of study is to determine what factors influence the
food preferences of a certain ethnic group in a certain locality.
 Exploratory research will eventually aid in determining the best research
design, data collection method and selection of subjects.
 Exploratory research follows a format that is less structured and more
flexible than the other approaches.
Descriptive Research
Descriptive research describes something which could be a phenomenon, a
current situation or the characteristic of a group, organization, people,etc.
 Descriptive research answers the question of who, what, where, when and
how of a particular issue or situation.
 Descriptive research is usually conducted on a larger scale.
 Descriptive studies can be classified as either cross-sectional or longitudinal.
 A cross-sectional study is a type of study in which the data is collected just
once to enable the researcher to answer the research questions.
 A longitudinal study is a type of study in which the data is collected at two or
more points in time.

Causal Research

Causal research or explanatory research is a research approach where the researcher

investigates the cause and effect relationship between variables in a study where one
variable is believed to affect another.
 Causal research is more suited to be conducted when some background information,
knowledge or understanding about a certain problem are already known or existed
in the literature.
 For a business organization, a good causal research if performed well may be able to
use the results for forecasting what might happen if certain changes to the existing
state of affairs are made.
3. Explain with examples the unit of analysis in research.
The unit of analysis refers to the subject that is being studied in the research.

 It is the “what” or “whom” that is being studied in which the data is being collected
from these units.
 May take the form of individuals, groups of people, objects, certain department
within an organization or the entire organization itself as well as culture and
countries.
 Most of the times, the unit of analysis is determined by the research questions.
 For example, the research question calls for determining the satisfaction level of
customers of a certain restaurant, then the unit of analysis is the individual customers
that patronize that restaurant.

4. What is a research proposal? Why is it important in the research process.

A research proposal is a short document written by a researcher to provide an
explanation about the proposed research study.
 The research proposal summarizes what exactly the problem is, why does it
interest the researcher, the benefits or significance of studying it, how the study
is going to be conducted as well as the time frame and budget that is needed to
complete the study.
 The research proposal answers all the what, why, how, where and when of the
study.
 The research proposal is prepared prior to conducting the actual research and
submitted to the relevant parties that require it to be evaluated.
 A research proposal that gets the approval of the party that authorized it will
ensure that there is no future misunderstanding for either side in which if it
happens could be very disruptive.

5. State the different components of a research proposal. Briefly explain each of the
components.

 Title of the study: Brief and concise.

 Table of contents: List the headings and subheadings of each component as well
as all exhibits, tables and figures by page number.
 Abstract or executive summary: Summarizes the purpose of the study, the
research question, the rationale for the study, the hypothesis and the research
design which may include procedures, the samples and the instruments that will
be used in the study in a single page of about 300 words.
 Introduction: Comprises the background of the study, the problem statement,
purpose of the research / research objectives and research questions, scope of
the study and justification / importance / benefit / significance of the study. Start
off with touching on the general field of research and narrow it down to the
specific area of concern.
 Literature review: Brief literature review.
 Theoretical framework and hypotheses: Diagrammatically depicts the
relationship between all the variables.
 Research methodology: Explain briefly what are the plans in conducting the
study. A questionnaire study or laboratory experiment, the research tool or
instrument, the sampling procedure, the respondents, the data collection
approach, and data analysis.
 Contribution / significance of research: Whether making some new discovery on
the research problem.
 Time frame: Time versus activities / Gantt chart.
 Budget: Breakdown of the costs.
 Conclusion: Highlight the importance of the study.
 List of references: A list of references that was used in the preparation of the
research proposal.