PROJECT REPORT OF

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
ON TOPIC
A STUDY ON DIFFERENT STAGES INVOLVED IN
PREPARATION OF A RESEARCH DESIGHN

SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO
DHEERAJ SHARAM (21LLM013) PROF. MANJULA BATRA

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INTRODUCTION
Research design is a planning of detailed outline of whole research work containing steps and
process to be followed in the research which include how data is to be collected, what
instruments will be employed, how the instruments will be used and the intended means for
analyzing data collected1. Research design provides a direction to researcher so that he can
precede the research work in a planned and systematic manner.

Research Design is understood as a planning as to the method and technology to be used in

research. According to distinct nature, object and purpose of every research their design may
vary from one to another.

It is a mandatory step to be designed properly in order to undergo any research work.

Research design has linkages with research problem, objectives of research and purposes
thereof. Researcher must have a clear picture about research problem, objective and purpose
so that he can plan an appropriate and effective design to proceed with research. Whether,
design is proper and efficient in achieving objectives of research would come to know after
acting accordingly.

How to do any research is an independent choice of researcher. Since, unskilled and

inexperienced procedure may cause heavy risk. Otherwise, secure way of doing study is to
follow some approved procedure which has been experienced by the previous researchers.
Therefore, the procedure suggested as safe, secure and reliable are more trustworthy to be
followed rather than inexperienced process and methods. Planning of researcher to go with
any procedure and method for researching his topic is called research designing.

MEANING & NATURE OF RESEARCH DESIGN

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http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/research-design.html#ixzz3BHQGD9PT, visited on 27.01.2021
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Research design denotes the research planning. A blue print of whole research work is
designed by the researcher. If man makes planning to perform any task whether picnic, party,
travelling, future planning, business planning or building construction. Before initiating the
task, he plans or designs certain strategy to complete the task from beginning till last. It
includes certain steps, methods, tools and techniques required for successful completion of
such task. Similarly, research planning is required before every research work.

A research design is a general plan or strategy for conducting a research study to examine
specific testable research questions of interest. The nature of the research questions and
hypotheses, the variables involved, the sample of participants, the research settings, the data
collection methods, and the data analysis methods are factors that contribute to the selection
of the appropriate research design. Thus, a research design is the structure, or the blueprint, of
research that guides the process of research from the formulation of the research questions
and hypotheses to reporting the research findings. In designing any research study, the
researcher should be familiar with the basic steps of the research process that guide all types
of research designs. Also, the researcher should be familiar with a wide range of research
designs in order to choose the most appropriate design to answer the research questions and
hypotheses of interest2.Length and complexity of research designs can vary considerably, but
any sound design will do the following things3:

1. Identify the research problem clearly and justify its selection, particularly in relation
to any valid alternative designs that could have been used,
2. Review and synthesize previously published literature associated with the problem,
3. Clearly and explicitly specify hypotheses [i.e., research questions] central to the
research problem.
4. Effectively describe the data which will be necessary for an adequate test of the
hypotheses and explain how such data will be obtained, and
5. Describe the methods of analysis which will be applied to the data in determining
whether or not the hypotheses are true or false

DIFFERENT STAGES INVOLVED IN PREPARATION OF A

RESEARCH DESIGN

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Sema A. Kalaian, 'Research Design' (SAGE Researchmethods 2008)
<http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/encyclopedia-of-survey-research-methods/n471.xml>
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'Types of Research Designs' (libguides.usc.edu) <http://libguides.usc.edu/content.php?
pid=83009&sid=818072>

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 1. Beginning of a Research Project.
2. Selection of a Research Topic.
3. Justification, Purpose, and Relevance of Research.
4. Designing Research Question.
5. Formulation of Hypothesis.
6. Literature Review
7. Outline of Research
8. Conceptual and Theoretical Framework of Research
9. Originality
1. Beginning of a Research Project

It is often difficult for a young researcher to start a research work. Therefore, before
undertaking research, one should consider the following issues:

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  The time frame of the completion of the study.
 Prior knowledge of the research topic.
 What is the purpose of the study?
 What are the scope and limitations of the study?
 What and how much information is needed?
 Structure of research and method of finding sources.
 What will techniques of gathering information be adopted?
 Where can needed information be found?
 Identifying the issues and generating keywords.

2. Selection of a Research Topic

The selection of a research topic is the starting point of undertaking research. However, many
researchers face problems in finding a suitable topic and narrowing it down. The choice of the
appropriate topic should be influenced by the researcher’s interest, abilities, and level of
knowledge in a particular area.

For finding out a topic, it is always better to start with a consultation with secondary sources
such as books or law journals. Reading books and journals can provide an overview of the
research topic and references to important cases and statutes relevant to the research area
chosen. However, the choice of a research topic depends on the interests and the background of
a researcher4.

A researcher can choose a topic either to know the unknown or refute some existing theories.
But the selection of a topic needs careful consideration of various factors, including social
relevance of the issue and time and resource constraints of achieving the goals of a particular
research project.

Vague, irrelevant, too narrow, or too broad topics have little chance of achieving the focus and
direction of a successful writing piece. For example, the topic of legal research may cover any
legislative scheme, jurisprudential debate, or any contemporary legal issue.

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 It can address a new statute, a new constitutional rule, a new interpretation of a statute, a new
enforcement principle, or novel application of a general principle to a certain case. The
research topic may concentrate on new problems or issues or new law reform, or a new
theoretical perspective.

However, one needs to be careful in selecting a topic;

o whether it is relevant to the course/program for which one is writing?

o Is it interesting?
o Is it doctrinally sound? Does it have the potential for any original contribution?
o Why is the topic special or necessary?
o How does the topic fit into legal or policy context?
o The answers to these and similar questions require intensive and wide reading and
decisions between interesting and competing areas and issues. The title of the topic
should be comprehend-be to the readers.

Clarity and proper word choice are essential in formulating the title. Before selecting a topic,
the researcher must be well aware of the area to undertake the research.

He should have background knowledge of the findings of the studies of others in the field. He
should be well conversant with different theories in the field. Finally, the researcher should
have a critical, curious, and imaginative frame of mind.

3. Justification, Purpose, and Relevance of Research

Why do we conduct research?
Because we want to fill a gap in our knowledge 5, or we want to challenge or test currently
accepted theories against new evidence, or simply because we want to reform the existing
system. Before researching any aspect of legal discipline, the researcher should think about the
justification and relevance of the research topic.

The purpose and justification of research should be clearly spelled out in a research job. It
should be understood precisely and right from the beginning. The researcher should underline

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the significance of research work and show how the research will contribute to the
development of the discipline.

The researcher should bear in mind the following issues

 Is the research topic timely and interesting?

 Will it make any original contribution to a field of legal knowledge?
 What is the scope of research?
 Does it deal principally with legislation, doctrine, or policy0
 Does it have practical implications?
 Is it a new issue? What remains to be explored0
 Why is the research unique, and what special objectives are to be achieved?
 Will the topic contribute to the ongoing academic debate on the issue? Will it develop
a new theory?

A researcher should also consider;

who is the targeted audience of the proposed research?

Will the proposed research be addressed to academics, policymakers in government,

policymakers in the private sector, or civil society?

A researcher should clearly mention the purpose of the research. A statement of purpose
indicates the focus and direction of the research and provides criteria for the evaluation of the
outcomes of the research.

A clear statement of the purpose of research is important for three reasons:

First, it allows readers to understand the research better.

Second, setting a clear vision of the purpose of research provides a crucial basis for evaluating
the research from the reader s point of view.

Third, clarity of purpose allows the researcher to identify a relatively narrow and precise area
of investigation rather than setting out to investigate some general area of interest.

A researcher should demonstrate that the research meets the needs of society and address
current legal issues and policy and practice. Thus, legal research can be driven by the desire to
tackle some practical legal problems rather than being driven specifically by the needs of
theory development.

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 Good research needs to demonstrate its relevance in terms of its potential contribution to
existing knowledge, practical needs, and timeliness regarding current issues.

4. Designing Research Question

The next step is to define or formulate a research problem that can be answered by using a
proper methodology. Research questions specify exactly what is to be investigated.

It involves the identification of important legal issues. The research question should be set out
in the introductory part of the research. The research question provides a focal point of
research. The research question provides some guidelines for methodologies. Designing a well-
crafted research question requires collecting and reading the background information.

To formulate the question properly, the researcher should have an idea of a broad perspective
and general view of the problem as a whole. The research questions should draw upon a review
of the existing literature.

A research question, in general, refers to a problem or issue which is yet to be resolved.

Therefore, the research problem should be formulated clearly and precisely to avoid becoming
ambiguous or contradictory6.

A research proposal should explicitly contain one central research question and elaborate sub-
questions closely associated with the central one. The research question also implicitly acts as
a justification for undertaking a research project. So designing of the research question should
reflect the research objective.

But more importantly, the research question should strike a new ground for investigation and
scientific inquiry and pose a problem, which requires detailed analysis.

Research questions are often formulated through using words such as ‘what,’ ‘when,’ ‘where,’
and ‘how.’ ‘What,’ ‘when,’ and ‘where’ questions seek descriptive answers, while ‘why’ and
‘how’ questions seek understanding and explanation. The research questions should be specific
and answerable for conducting fruitful research.

5. Formulation of Hypothesis

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One research question is designed, formulation of a hypothesis is the next step. Hypothesis
testing is an essential strategy for empirical research. The researcher must set one or more
working hypotheses before proceeding with his work. The hypothesis is nothing but a tentative
assumption or proposition.

The validity or way remains to be tested. It is not an opinion, a value judgment, or a normative
statement. It is a logical consequence of research. Question. A hypothesis is an informed
assumption as in previous reading, research, and observation.

In other words, the hypothesis is a proposition that has been rephrased from the research
question, and the subsequent study might prove or disprove it. It may follow from a theory or
result of previous research. But hypothesis can play an important role in the development of
new theory.

A hypothesis also provides a tentative solution to the problem and helps in systematically
building an argument. A hypothesis must be stated in clear and simple language and should be
capable of verification.

A working hypothesis helps the researcher concentrate only on relevant factors and avoiding
irrelevant ones. In addition, hypothesis serves to link together related facts and information and
provides direction to research.

According to one author: The role of the hypothesis is to guide the researcher by delimiting the
area of research and to keep him on the right track. It sharpens his thinking and focuses on the
more important facets of the problem.

Working hypothesis arises from prior thinking about the subject, examining the available data
and material, including related studies, and the counsel of experts and interested parties.
Working hypotheses are more useful when stated in precise and clearly defined terms7.

A hypothesis should be developed in the initial stage of research. However, as research

proceeds, the original hypothesis might change with discovering new facts that are not
anticipated at the initial stage. Therefore, a researcher should be flexible and open-minded to
revise the original hypothesis.

A hypothesis should be formulated with care to draw proper and reasonable conclusions at the
end of the research. But most importantly, it must be testable.

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6. Literature Review

Before addressing substantive issues, a researcher should conduct an extensive literature

review. A literature review is a process of locating, obtaining, reading, and evaluating the
extant literature in a particular area of interest. In addition, a literature review may refer to
reviewing concepts and theories and previous ‘research findings.’

Literature review mainly refers to consulting general secondary sources for getting an
overview of all relevant subject areas of the research. According to Hutchinson, “The literature
review justifies your research.

It places your research in context. It does more than simply summaries what you have read. It
aims to synthesize, analyze and critique the state of knowledge and research in your stated
area.”

Indexes, bibliographies, references in books, and articles of other works can be useful for
searching the literature8.

However, the literature review is not simply a passive assessment of the state of knowledge but
an active synthesis of that knowledge within the researcher’s particular interest. The ultimate
aim of the literature review is to provide an overview of relevant published works.

The literature review is essential to understand what is currently known about a problem. The
literature review also helps to avoid duplication of effort.

No matter what topic a researcher chooses, the chances are that someone has already done
some research on it. If so, then researching as originally planned would be a waste of time. But
literature review may reveal other questions that remain to be answered.

By familiarizing the researcher with existing research and theory in an area, a researcher can
revise the research project to explore some newly identified questions. The literature review
has several purposes: first, it can give ideas about research design, key issues, and data
collection methods.

Second, it may identify problems in the research proposal and save the researcher from
repeating other mistakes.

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 Third, it increases human knowledge that every contribution builds on or relates to previous
work. Finally, it helps identifies the intellectual roots of the work and show familiarity with
existing ideas, information, and practices related to the area of interest.

Secondary sources provide valuable background information which may help a researcher to
formulate issues. For the literature review, it is useful to create a bibliography.

A bibliography helps identify all the important and available resources. Second, it presents an
overview of the subject being researched.

7. Outline of Research
After formulating the hypothesis, the next step is to prepare a tentative outline of the proposed
research. The outlines of the study will be divided into sections and sub-sections.

An outline is simply an orderly plan, in writing9, showing the division and arrangement of
ideas. Its principal function is to indicate the relationship of these ideas to each other. A well-
designed outline is crucial for successful research work. The outline should not be minutely
detailed. But it should not be so brief or vague.

A well-structured outline shows relationships among ideas, and each subheading must be
directly related and subordinate to the heading under which it appears. Thus, creating an
outline allows the researcher to organize his/her ideas to provide the most effective focus for
the research. Moreover, outlining can itself suggest new ideas and perspectives?

There is no formula for outlining that will work for every research.

However, the following points need to be considered:

 What are the key points to be analyzed?

 What is the most logical order in which to make those points?
 How do the different parts of research relate to each other?
 How does the legal authority the researcher intends to rely on fit into his arguments?

The outline can be expanded, modified, and revised as research progresses. For this reason, the
framing of an outline may not be completed until the research project is finished. The
researcher should be flexible and keep his mind open to revise or adjust the outline as the
research progresses. One may find that the initial outline is incomplete or too narrow, or too
broad.
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8. Conceptual and Theoretical Framework of Research

In every research activity, concepts are used to develop a framework to “guide the research
processes and investigation approach” of what is known as a conceptual framework. A concept
is an abstraction formed by generalizations from particulars. Concepts are the building blocks
of theory and represent the points around which research is conducted.

The conceptual framework may be based on analysis of one or more key concepts such as
‘law,’ ‘property, ‘rights, ‘equality,’ ‘justice,’ ‘fairness,’ and so on.

The conceptual framework can be contrasted with an empirical approach, which is, in
principle, testable through controlled experiments, careful observations, or the analysis of past
events.

On the other hand, conceptual approach is a search for meanings of terms and concepts whose
validity is self-evident. In general, the researcher should explain certain concepts for his study.
He should describe the context, problem, possible answers to the problem, evaluation, which
may be positive or negative recommendations.

In carrying out research, a conceptual framework is needed to set up the conceptual tools,
criteria, and logic for the research, help with the thesis structure, form a basis for data
selection, and ensure that conclusions answer the research questions. Thus, a conceptual
approach is a tool helping with scientific thinking and systematic research. It also facilitates the
coherence of research10.

The conceptual framework helps to achieve convincingness of the main arguments of research
work. It also helps thesis structure and form a basis for data selection and ensure that
conclusions answer the research questions.

The concept should be distinguished from conceptualization. While concepts deal with specific
aspects of concrete reality and must be defined in abstract terms, conceptualization is forming
or making concepts. Conversely, conceptualization is the process of forming or making
concepts from situations or facts.

Thus, it is a mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions are made more specific. It
produces a specific agreed-upon meaning for a concept for research.

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Kothari, C R, Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (Wishwa
Prakashan, New Delhi, 1990)

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Legal research may revolve around one core theory or several theories. The theory has been
defined as a set of interconnected constructs, definitions, and propositions that present a
systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables to explain and predict
phenomena.” Theories being highly abstract thought processes are profoundly helpful for
understanding the experienced world and perceiving reality.

This involves different understandings or explanations of truth, reality, knowledge

development, acquisition, application evaluation, and critique.

One or more theories can guide the directions taken by the research. But, first, a researcher has
to identify what theories are potentially used in research. Theories represent a particular way to
understand the problem with which they deal. In their most developed and sophisticated forms,
such theories describe what happens and explain why things happen.

Theories tend to be abstract. But they provide fundamental insight into the problem or issue
under research, and theoretical framework is a logical analysis of the basic theories that arise in
law. Thus, legal researchers must recognize the pervasiveness and value of theories.

A theoretical framework may center around a grand theory of law or social development. In
legal research, theories can be drawn from the different schools of thought in jurisprudence or
other disciplines such as political science, sociology, or economics.

For example, in research on the moral aspect of law or particular legislation, natural law theory
should be the central point of reference.

Research on criminal law should involve logical analysis of theories of punishment, the
presumption of innocence, or the principle of fault. Similarly, in analyzing the constitutional
issue, the argument may be built on constitutional theories such as separation of power, due
process of law, judicial review, or basic structure of the constitution.

Theoretical analysis is often needed to postulate the relationship between variables or

conditions under research. It also helps to describe, explain and predict phenomena under
research. The theoretical framework may be applied to define the research question, formulate
a hypothesis, and structure research accordingly.

If legal research aims to generate new theories, analyzing existing theories is imperative for
providing a framework for new knowledge. To be a theory, a statement needs to take the form

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 of universal statements. This means that it contains a proposition that applies in general and is
not restricted to unique or particular circumstances.

9. Originality

In search of originality, a researcher can develop an individual viewpoint, use investigative

resources11, evaluate the previous works and originally organize his or her findings. The
originality of research work can be measured by discovering hitherto unknown facts or
applying research methods and new interpretations.

The creation of new knowledge can show originality. To create new knowledge, research
ought to be built upon the cutting edge of existing knowledge. One needs to think about what
has been achieved in research or thesis.

The novelty of the approach may be in whole or in part of a thesis. A researcher can
demonstrate how his contribution relates to existing knowledge.

Originality comes from selecting and studying the new topic with established methods and
linking what is usually not connected. Originality can also be achieved by adopting an inter-
disciplinary approach and developing a new insight on issues that are not previously known.

It can also be demonstrated by indicating future development in the law on a particular issue.
The mere personal opinion which is not substantiated by adequate explanation is not
originality.

The followings are acceptable ways of obtaining originality in the research project or thesis:

 setting down a major piece of new information in writing for the first time;
 continuing a previously original piece of work;
 showing originality in testing somebody’s idea;
 carrying out empirical work that has not been done before;
 using already known material but with a new interpretation;
 taking a particular technique and applying it in a new area;
 being cross-disciplinary and using different methodologies;
 adding to knowledge in a way that has not been done before.

CONCLUSION

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The final product of all the research activity is the report which gives a written account of the
entire journey along with the path to find new knowledge. This type requires a technical task,
which is why writing research is not only but also tests patients and efforts on the part of the
researcher.
The overall approach to the problem along with the analysis of the data and superior grasp over
language all of it has to be used in case of preparing the report. The report has a foreword or
the title page along with Preface, and list of tables and contents.
It may also contain a list of charts or illustrations. in the second section of the report; there will
be an introduction to the research report along with the purpose of the study and statement of
the problem.
Then the researcher will write about the hypothesis and the definitions along with the
methodology by which the research is conducted. A section for secondary data analysis and
primary data analysis is kept.
The final part of the research has conclusions and results. The end of the research will be filled
with the bibliography and appendix and glossary.

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