The Research process: Elements of

Research Design
Chapter 6

Group member
MARIA SOHAIL
MARRYUM SHAMS
UZMA SHARIF
 Topics Discussed
• The Research Design
• Purpose of the study: Exploratory, Descriptive,
Hypothesis testing, Case study analysis
• Types of investigation: causal versus correlational
• Extend of Researcher interference with the study
• Study setting: contrived versus non contrived
• unit of analysis : individual, dyas, groups,
organizations, cultures
• Time horizans of study: cross –sectional versus
Longitudinal Managerial implications
 The Research Design
• In this step we need to design the research in a
way that the requisite data can be gathered and
analyzed to arrive at a solution.
• The research design was originally presented in
a simple manner in the next Figure.
 Research Design

© 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

4
 Purpose of the study
• Exploratory research: Study undertake to
explore new area or an unknown destination.
• is undertaken when not much is known about
the situation at hand, or no information is
available on how similar problems or research
issues have been solved in the past.

 Example:
 A service provider wants to know why his

customers are switching to other service

providers.
 Purpose of the study
• Descriptive study:
• Survey or fact finding enquires of different kinds. It
describes the actual prevailing state of affairs existing
at present.
• is undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to
describe the characteristics of the variables of
interest in a situation
 Descriptive study
• A bank manager wants to have a profile of the
individuals who have loan payments
outstanding for 6 months and more. It would
include details of their average age, earnings,
nature of occupation, full-time/part-time
employment status, and the like. This might
help him to elicit further information or
decide right away on the types of individuals
who should be made ineligible for loans in the
future
 Purpose of the study
• Hypothesis testing:
• Studies that engage in hypotheses testing usually
explain the nature of certain relationships, or
establish the differences among groups or the
independence of two or more factors in a situation
• Studies that engage in hypotheses testing usually
explain the nature of certain relationships, or
establish the differences among groups or the
independence of two or more factors in a situation