UNIT III

Research Design
Research Design
According to Zikmund;
Research design is a master plan specifying the methods and
procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information.

• Therefore, RD expresses both the structure of the research problem

and the plan of investigation used to obtain empirical evidence on
relations of the problem.
• Research design constitutes the blueprint for the collection,
measurement and analysis of data.
• It aids the scientist in the allocation of his/her limited resources by
posing crucial choices:
– is the blueprint to include experiments, interviews, observation?
– is the analysis of records, simulation, or some combination of
these?
– Are the methods of data collection and the research situation to
be highly structured?
– Should the analysis be primarily be quantitative or qualitative?
Essentials of good research design
• It is an overall plan for the activities to be
undertaken
• It serves as a framework of the study
• It is an integrated and organized system the
guides the researcher in formulating,
implementing and controlling the study
• It is a blue print specifying the methods to be
adopted for gathering and analyzing data.
• It is a strategy of obtaining information for the
purpose of conducting study and making
generalizations about population
Features of good research design
• Reliability
• Objectivity: Research design always be accurate
and objective
• Validity
• Replicability: Research design should be
replicable for other similar studies
• Generalizability: Good research design should be
capable for generalization (can be adopted for
other places and areas)
Components of research design
The basic components of research design are;
• The subject for investigation
• Methodology
• Data gathering
• Data Analysis
• Report writing
Each research is started from the research problem
and the final phase is report writing.
Types of research design
Depending on the focus of the research question, the
researcher needs to decide whether the research design
will be, however, the following are some important research
design;
• Exploratory research design
• Descriptive research design
• Developmental research design
• Case studies research design
• Causal-comparative research design
• Experimental research design
• Qualitative research design
Exploratory research design
• Exploratory research is conducted for a problem that has
not been clearly defined.
• According to Sekaran (1992) “exploratory studies as
those where the researcher knows little about the
situation, or has no information on how similar research
problems have been solved.
• Therefore, preliminary work needs to be done to
comprehend the nature of the problem (e.g., the initial
studies on the nature of managerial work where it was
not known what managers did each day).
• The major emphasis in such studies is on the discovery of
ideas and insights.
• It is particularly useful when the researcher has lack of
clear ideas about the problem.
• Important variables related to problem are not known.
• The research is less structure and more flexible.
• Hypothesis can be formulated and presents a clear
situations. It also provides the direction for formal
research.
Steps in conducting exploratory research;
Acquire knowledge from literature review
Collection of information from the respondents to get
additional knowledge about the problem
Analysis of data for getting fact issues related to problem
Write research report.
Example

(Zikmund, P. 85)
Descriptive Research
The major purpose of descriptive research is to describe
characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or
environments.
In other words, descriptive research tries to “paint a picture”
of a given situation by addressing who, what, when, where,
and how questions.
The object of descriptive research is ‘to portray an accurate
profile of persons, events or situations
It means , descriptive research describes the relevant aspects
of the factors of interest to the researcher from an
individual, organizations, or other perspectives.
Description in management and business research has
a very clear place.
• Unlike exploratory research, descriptive studies are conducted
after the researcher has gained a firm grasp of the situation
being studied.
• This understanding, which may have been developed in part
from exploratory research, directs the study toward specific
issues.
• Steps in Descriptive research
– Identify the objective of the study
– Obtain the information on sample
– Prepare for the methods of data collection
– Obtain the data
– Process and analyze the data
– Report writing
(Zikmund, P.
Case Study
Case studies simply refer to the documented history of a
particular person, group, organization, or event.
In other words, case study involves a detail and intensive
analysis of single event or case.
Typically, a case study may describe the events of a
specific company as it faces an important decision or
situation, such as introducing a new product or dealing
with some management crisis.
It analyzes the events through observation and comes to
know the position of total unit.
The source of information for case study may be individual
record, diary, letters, documents of offices, meetings
and seminars, and files.
• Case studies place more emphasis on a full
contextual analysis of fewer events or conditions
and their interrelations.
• An emphasis on details provides valuable insight
for problem solving, evaluation and strategy.
• It is in-depth investigation, explain small units
across large number of variable or conditions,
useful as background information for detail
comprehensive study, provide useful anecdotes or
example to illustrate generalized statistical
findings.
• Results of case study cannot be generalized but
series of case studies can be generalized.
• The results can be compared with other studies.
Development Research Design
A research design used to predict the future trend
considering to the changes in events and human,
social and cultural activities is known as
developmental research design.
In this research design, it is attempted to study the
rate of change, direction and relationship
between the variables.
Therefore, this research is conducted for predicting
the future trend.
Development research design helps manager to
make the plan.
Types of developmental research design
There are various types of developmental research;
A. Longitudinal research design: If a study is conducted over
a period of time or continuously then it is known as longitudinal
study. Data are gathered in different points of time and analysis is
made. Longitudinal study can also be categorized in three groups;
– Panel study
• If a study is conducted from a group of person that have
agreed to provide information over the period of time. In this
study, researcher chooses the same groups of person for
getting information on same issue over the period time.
• Example: Customers’ satisfaction survey towards the quality
of Toyota Motor over the period of time with the customers.
– Trend study
• When data are collected at intervals spread over a period of
time . In this study, the samples are drawn from different
groups of persons at different point of time from the same
population.
• Example: This study may be beneficial for studying the
market trend of electronic items.
– Cohort study
• The study which is conducted from the group of persons
having same characteristics or experience within the
specified point of time. The cohort may be persons having
the same birth day, persons from the same village and
class.
• Example: Study of branding behavior towards books among
students starting their study from +2 level.
B. Cross sectional research design
Those study which are collected at a particular point of time to
answer the research question is known as cross sectional
research design.
In other words, a study in which various segments of a
population are sampled and data are collected at a single
moment in time.
Most business research surveys fall into this category. We can
think of cross-sectional studies as taking a snapshot of the
current situation.
This research is conducted to find the solution of immediate
problem
Cross-sectional studies often employ the survey strategy.
Example: The relationship between expenditure on customer
care training for sales assistants and sales revenue.
Causal Comparative Research Design
A research design that is used to show the cause of the problem is
termed as causal comparative research design. It examines the
effect of cause on certain works.
It is also known as Ex-post facto (after the fact) research design.
It involves two groups: control or comparison in which intervention is
applied to assess the difference.
This research design involves three stages:
Stage I: Explanation of effect is made
Stage: Explanation of cause
Stage III: Impact of intervention is explained.
For Example: A trader, has noticed that one sales group in her
business has made considerable gains in comparison to the other
sales groups. Is this due to the new marketing strategy that she
has implemented???
Characteristics of C-C Research
• There should be comparison (control ) group.
• There should be intact group.
• The cause (also known as treatment) cannot be
manipulated because it occurs already.
• Comparison can be made between the groups.
• Data are collected after all the events have
occurred.
Experimental Research Design
• Experimental research is the process of
discovering causal relationship between
variables.
• In experimental design two groups are
compared, one in which the intervention takes
place.
• Experimental design can be three types:
– Pre-experimental design
– Quasi experimental design
– True experimental design
True experimental research
• The research design in which the research can
be conducted strictly under controlled
situations, where one or more variables are
valid and other are kept constant.
• There are two types of experiments:
– Lab Experiment (conducted within the lab, some
variables are controlled and remaining are
manipulated).
– Field Experiment ( Experiment is conducted in the
field, one or more variables are manipulated under
careful condition. Complete control is not possible)
Quasi-experimental research
• An alternate to true experimental design in which
complete control and randomization is not possible.
• In other words, experimental designs that do not
involve random allocation of subjects to treatment
combinations.
• In case of social and management science complete
control is almost impossible due to complexities.
• It uses two or more groups, one of which serves as a
control group in which no intervention is applied.
• Quasi-experiments are designed to reduce
confounding variables as much as possible, given that
random assignment is not available.
Example
For example, a researcher may wish to know if democratic
Leadership is more effective than autocratic leadership. In this
study, one group might use autocratic decision-making (all
decisions made by the leader), another might use democratic
decision-making (decisions made by the group), another
laissez-
faire (the leader deliberately Keeps out of the decision-making),
and another group just be told to do the task (a true control
group). The last two groups might be Considered controls or
comparisons. If democratic decision-making works, productivity
should be highest in that group compared to the three others.
Qualitative Research Design
Issues such as behavior, attitudes, culture, human values,
perceptions that cannot be quantified. In such situations,
qualitative research is useful.
Therefore, the research which is conducted to understand, analyze,
and obtain extensive knowledge about the issues is known as
qualitative research.
In general, content analyses of written or recorded information
drawn from personal experiences, expression, behavior is used in
qualitative research.
In-depth interview, focus group discussion, grounded theory, case
studies, action research and observation techniques are used to
analyze the information.
Difference between qualitative and quantitative research
QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE

 Theory developed during study  Theory developed a priori

 Meaning of concepts  Measurement of variables

 Process oriented  Outcome oriented

 Control unimportant  Control important

 Rich descriptions  Precise measurement of variables

 Basic element of analysis is words  Basic element of analysis is numbers

 Uniqueness  Generalization

 Trustworthiness of findings  Control of error

Assumptions of qualitative research
• Reality is subjective and multiple as seen by participants in the study
.
• To understand and interpret To critique and to identify potential.
• Researcher interacts with that being researched
• Inductive Process
• Value laden and biased
• Values are personally relative; need to be understood
• Research is context bound
• Reality is constructed by individuals interacting with their social
worlds
• It involves the holistic approach (considers all the dimensions).
• Flexible research design (During the research the research design
can be changed according to new context).
• It is based on process rather than outcomes
Features of qualitative research
• Interpretative (just attempt to explain the behavior, attitudes,
perception, motivation and other hidden aspects of real life)
• Describes the qualitative facts (Always depends on the
subjective dimension of real life)
• Sampling (Mostly purposive sampling is used and fairly a small
number of sample are considered)
• Flexibility in research design (Research design can be changed
as necessary)
• Data collection (small no of sample is enough and researcher
should involve in data collection procedure)
• Assumption (It assumes that no absolute and single fact exists.
Believes in multiple facts due to change in time, space and
other factors