ELEMENTS OF RESEARCH

DESIGN
Chapter six
Uma Sekaran 7 th .ed., 2020 -2021
By Dr. Mohamad Al-Masarweh

Presented by : Rand Al Nasa ’a

learning objectives:
1. Explain what is meant by a research design.
2. Develop an appropriate research design for any
given study.
3. Explain why a researcher might be constrained to
settle for less than the “ideal” research design.
4. Demonstrate awareness of the role of the manager
in the area of research design.
The Research design
 The Research design
◦ Research design is a blueprint or plan for the collection, measurement,
and analysis of data, created to answer your research questions.
◦ Figure 6.1, each component of the research design offers several
critical choice points. Obviously, there is no single design that is
superior in all circumstances. Instead, you will have to make choices
and create a design that is suitable for the job at hand.
◦ The quality of a research design depends on how carefully you choose
the appropriate design alternatives, taking into consideration the
specific objectives, research questions, and constraints of the project,
such as access to data, time, and/or money.
◦ Choices have to be made as to the data collection method to be used,
the type of sample (sampling design), how variables will be measured
(measurement), and how they will be analyzed to test the hypotheses
(data analysis).
 Research strategies
◦ A strategy is a plan for achieving a certain goal.
◦ A research strategy will help you to meet your research
objectives and to answer the research questions of your study.
◦ Research strategies:
1. Experiments
2. Survey research
3. Ethnography
4. Case studies
5. Grounded theory
6. Action research
 Experiments
◦ Experiments are usually associated with a hypothetico‐deductive approach

to research.

◦ The purpose of an experiment is to study causal relationships between

variables.

◦ Experimental designs are less useful or appropriate for answering

exploratory and descriptive research questions.

◦ In an experiment, the researcher manipulates the independent variable to

study the effect of this manipulation on the dependent variable.

◦ An experimental design is a very strong design to use.

 Surveys
◦ A survey is a system for collecting information from or about people to
describe, compare, or explain their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.

◦ The survey strategy is very popular in business research, because it

allows the researcher to collect quantitative and qualitative data on many
types of research questions.

◦ For instance, in a business context, surveys are often taken on the subject
of consumer decision making, customer satisfaction, job satisfaction, the
use of health services, management information systems.

◦ Other survey instruments are interviews and structured observation.

 Ethnography
◦ Ethnography is a research strategy that has its roots in
anthropology. It is a strategy in which the researcher
“closely observes, records, and engages in the daily life of
another culture and then writes accounts of this culture,
emphasizing descriptive detail.
◦ Ethnography involves immersion in the particular culture
of the social group observing behavior, listening to what is
said in conversations, and asking questions.
◦ It aims to generate an understanding of the culture and
behavior of a social group from an “insider’s point of view.
 Case studies
◦ Case studies focus on collecting information about a specific object, event or
activity, such as a particular business unit or organization.

◦ In case studies, the case is the individual, the group, the organization, the event,
or the situation the researcher is interested in.

◦ The idea behind a case study is that in order to obtain a clear picture of a
problem one must examine the real‐life situation from various angles and
perspectives using multiple methods of data collection.

◦ A case study as a research strategy that involves an empirical investigation of a

particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple
methods of data collection (Yin, 2009).
 Grounded theory

◦ Grounded theory is a systematic set of procedures to develop an

inductively derived theory from the data.

◦ Important tools of grounded theory are theoretical sampling, coding,

and constant comparison.

◦ Theoretical sampling is “the process of data collection for generating

theory whereby the analyst jointly collects, codes, and analyzes the
data and decides what data to collect next and where to find them, in
order to develop his theory as it emerges.
 Action research
◦ Action research is a research strategy aimed at effecting planned
changes.

◦ Sometimes undertaken by consultants who want to initiate change

processes in organizations.

◦ Action research is a constantly evolving project with interplay

among problem, solution, effects or consequences, and new
solution.

A sensible and realistic problem definition and creative ways of

collecting data are critical to action research.
 Extent of researcher interference with
the study
◦ The extent of interference by the researcher has a direct
bearing on whether the study undertaken is correlational or
causal.
Correlational study : is descriptive in nature.
In studies conducted to establish cause‐and‐effect
relationships, the researcher tries to manipulate certain
variables so as to study the effects of such manipulation on
the dependent variable of interest.
The extent of researcher interference is related to whether
the research questions are correlational or causal in nature
and to the importance of establishing a causal relationship
beyond any doubt what so ever.
 Study setting: contrived and noncontrived
◦ Field studies : studies done in noncontrived settings, where various
factors are examined in the natural setting in which daily activities go
on as normal with minimal researcher interference.
◦ Field experiments : studies conducted to establish cause‐and‐effect
relationships using the same natural environment, where cause‐and ‐
effect relationships are studied with some amount of researcher
interference, but still in the natural setting where events continue in the
normal fashion.
◦ Lab experiments : a contrived setting with researcher interference to
an excessive degree, where cause‐and‐effect relationships are studied
with some amount of researcher interference, but still in the natural
setting where events continue in the normal fashion.
 Unit of analysis
◦ The unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation of the
data collected during the subsequent data analysis stage.
◦ Our research question determines the appropriate unit of
analysis.
◦ Unit of analysis:
1. Individuals
2. Dyads
3. Groups
4. Organizations
5. Cultures
Individuals Example:
The Chief Financial Officer of a manufacturing company wants to know
how many of the staff would be interested in attending a three‐day seminar
on making appropriate investment decisions. For this purpose, data will
have to be collected from each individual staff member and the unit of
analysis is the individual.

Dyads Example:
Having read about the benefits of mentoring, a human resources manager
wants to first identify the number of employees in three departments of the
organization who are in mentoring relationships, and then find out what the
jointly perceived benefits (i.e., by both the mentor and the one mentored)
of such a relationship are. Here, once the mentor and the mentored pairs
are identified, their joint perceptions can be obtained by treating each pair
as one unit. Hence, if the manager wants data from a sample of 10 pairs, he
will have to deal with 20 individuals, a pair at a time. The information
obtained from each pair will be a data point for subsequent analysis. Thus,
the unit of analysis here is the dyad.
 ​
 Groups Example:
A manager wants to see the patterns of usage of the newly installed
information system (IS) by the production, sales, and operations
personnel. Here, three groups of personnel are involved and information
on the number of times the IS is used by each member in each of the
three groups, as well as other relevant issues, will be collected and
analyzed. The final results will indicate the mean usage of the system per
day or month for each group. Here, the unit of analysis is the group.

Divisions Example:
Procter & Gamble wants to see which of its various divisions (soap,
paper, oil, etc.) have made profits of over 12% during the current year.
Here, the profits of each of the divisions will be examined and the
information aggregated across the various geographical units of the
division. Hence, the unit of analysis will be the division, at which level
the data will be aggregated.
 ​
​
Time horizon
1. Cross-sectional studies
◦ A study can be undertaken in which data are gathered just
once, perhaps over a period of days or weeks or months, in
order to answer a research question.
◦ Its also called one-shot .
◦ Example : data were collected from stock brokers between
April and June of last year to study their concerns in a
turbulent stock market. Data with respect to this particular
research had not been collected before, nor will they be
collected again for this research.
 Time horizon(cont.)
2. Longitudinal studies
◦ A study that explain when data on the dependent variable are
gathered at two or more points in time to answer the research
question.
◦ Its take more time and effort and cost more than cross‐sectional
studies.
◦ Experimental designs invariably are longitudinal studies.
◦ Example : A marketing manager is interested in tracing the
pattern of sales of a particular product in four different regions
of the country on a quarterly basis for the next two years. Since
data will be collected several times to answer the same issue
(tracing pattern of sales).
 Mixed Methods
◦ Mixed methods research aims to answer research questions that cannot be
answered by “qualitative” or “quantitative” approaches alone.

◦ Its also focuses on collecting, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and
qualitative data in a single study or series of studies.

◦ The attractiveness of this approach is that it allows researchers to combine

inductive and deductive thinking, to use more than one research method to
address the research problem, and to solve this problem using different types
of data.

◦ Mixed methods approach complicates the research design and therefore

requires clear presentation to allow the reader to sort out its different
components.
 Mixed Methods(cont.)
◦ Triangulation is a technique that is also often associated with using
mixed methods.
◦ The idea is that one can be more confident in a result if the use of
different methods or sources leads to the same results.
◦ Several kinds of triangulation are possible:
1. Method triangulation: using multiple methods of data collection
and analysis.
2. Data triangulation: collecting data from several sources and/or at
different time periods.
3. Researcher triangulation: multiple researchers collect and/or
analyze the data.
4. Theory triangulation: multiple theories and/or perspectives are
used to interpret and explain the data.
 Trade-offs and compromises
◦ The Researcher determines the appropriate decisions to be
made in the study design based on the research perspective of
the investigator, the research objectives, research questions, the
extent of rigor desired, and practical considerations.

◦ Because of the time and costs involved, a researcher might be

constrained to settle for less than the “ideal” research design.

◦ Regardless of the complexity of the design, the researcher

always has to be very clear about each aspect discussed in this
chapter before embarking on data collection.
 Managerial Implications
◦ One of the important decisions a manager has to make
before starting a study pertains to how rigorous the study
ought to be.
◦ One of the main advantages in fully understanding the
difference between causal and correlational studies is that
managers do not fall into the trap of making implicit causal
assumptions when two variables are only associated with
each other. They realize that A could cause B, or B could
cause A, or both A and B could covary because of some
third variable.
◦ Knowledge of research design details also helps managers
to study and intelligently comment on research proposals
and on research report.
Thank You