Research Design

Prepared by Dr. Ali Bavik revised by Dr. Shanhsan Qi

 Learning Objectives
• Research Proposal

• Primary data .secondary data

• Advantages and disadvantages of primary and secondary data.

• Types of research design

• Different variables
 Research Proposal

• Three functions:
1. It states the problem.
2. It specifies the research objectives.
3. It details the research method proposed.
• Proposals also contain a timetable and a budget.

Ch 4 3
 Research Design

It is a master plan specifies the methods

and procedures for collecting and
analyzing the needed information.
Lets think about it!

• How do you normally conduct research? What sources

do you use and where do you find those resources?
• How do you think people researched before the internet?
• What do you think historians and archeologists use to
gather information?
• What might make a source better than others?

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Secondary Source

A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary

sources. These sources are one or more steps
removed from the event. Secondary sources may
have pictures, quotes or graphics that are primary
sources.
(Princeton University Library http://www.princeton.edu)

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Secondary Source
cont.
• A secondary source is a something that is a reference
to a primary source.
• It interprets or analyzes the primary source.
• Its purpose is to explain or clarify the primary source
in some way.

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Secondary Source
cont.
• Provide an introduction to a topic

• Provide historical/broader context for a topic

• Show how has a topic been interpreted by other historians

• Provide hints on where to find primary evidence

• Provide information which enables historians to make sense of

primary sources

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Public Documents

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Textbooks

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Magazines

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Journal Articles

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Advantages

• The primary advantage of secondary data is that it is

cheaper and faster to access.

• it provides a way to access the work of the best

scholars all over the world.

• It data gives a frame of mind to the researcher that in

which direction he/she should go for the specific
research.

• It saves time, efforts and money and add to the value

of the research study.

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Disadvantages
• The data collected by the third party may not be a reliable
party so the reliability and accuracy of data go down.

• Data collected in one location may not be suitable for the other
one due variable environmental factor.

• With the passage of time the data becomes obsolete and very
old

• Secondary data can also raise issues of copyright.

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Types of Sources

1. Primary
2. Secondary

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Primary Source

A primary source is an original, "first-

hand", or "eye-witness" account offering
an inside view.
It contains new information (new at the
time it was created, that is) that has not
been interpreted, evaluated, paraphrased,
or condensed.

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Primary Source cont.

Such sources are usually created during

or very close to the time of the events
they report on.
The author of a primary source typically
provides direct impressions of events
he or she is reporting on.

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Photographs
AAdesk that belonged to Queen
Victorian gown worn by Queen Victoria to
Victoria in 1851…
the ‘Great
Macau
Expedition’, the first world’s fair

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Interviews

19 Diane Sawyer’s interview with President Obama on the 2012 Presidential Election.
ABC News’ Source: ABC News
Diaries

20 The diary of President Ronald Reagan which provides a first-hand account of the 40 th President of the United States term in office. Source: Reagan Presidential Library
Letters

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Abraham Lincoln’s letter to General Sherman on December 26 , 1864 congratulating Sherman on the capture of the city of Savannah. Source: Library of Congress
th
Autobiographies

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The Story of My Experiments with Truth by M.K. Gandhi…details in his own words the Indian Nationalist’s struggles and inspiration for India’s independence from Britain.
Advantages

• original and relevant to the topic of the research

study so the degree of accuracy is very high.

• it can be collected from a number of ways like

interviews, telephone surveys, focus groups etc.

• It can be also collected across the national

borders through emails and posts. It can include
a large population and wide geographical
coverage.

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Advantages
cont.
• it can better give a realistic view to the
researcher about the topic under consideration.

• Reliability of primary data is very high because

these are collected by the concerned and reliable
party

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Disadvantages

• The coverage is limited and for wider coverage a more number of

researchers are required.
• A lot of time and efforts are required for data collection.
• By the time the data collected, analyzed and report is ready the
problem of the research becomes very serious or out dated. So the
purpose of t research may be defeated.
• It has design problems like how to design the surveys. The questions
must be simple to understand and respond.
• Some respondents do not give timely responses. Sometimes, the
respondents may give fake, socially acceptable and sweet answers and
try to cover up the realities

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Disadvantages
cont.
• With more people, time and efforts involvement the
cost of the data collection goes high.

• There is no control over the data collection.

Incomplete questionnaire always give a negative
impact on research.

• Trained persons are required for data collection. In

experienced person in data collection may give
inadequate data of the research.

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Exercise: Please answer the following
questions
The key sources of secondary and primary data?
•To find the major arrivals in your local city
This a secondary OR primary data?

•Collecting tourism information from local tourism

organization sources center and assess the current
image portrayed by your local/regional tourist
association
This a secondary OR primary data?

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Types of Research Design
 Three traditional categories:
• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal
• The choice of the most appropriate design depends
largely on the objectives of the research and how
much is known about the problem and research
objectives.

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 Basic Research Objectives and
Research Design

Research Objective Appropriate Design

To gain background information, Exploratory

to define terms, to clarify
problems and hypotheses,
to establish research priorities

To describe and measure marketing Descriptive

phenomena at a point in time

To determine causality, Causal

to make “if-then” statements

Ch 5 30
 Types of Research Design: A Caution!

• Exploratory
• Descriptive
• Causal

A Caution
• It should not be implied that research design is a step-by-step
process in terms of the order in which design should be carried
out. Many research projects use only one design.

Ch 5 31
 Exploratory Research

• Exploratory research is most commonly

unstructured, informal research that is undertaken to
gain background information about the general
nature of the research problem.

By unstructured, we mean there is no formal set of

objectives, sample plan, or questionnaire.

Ch 5 32
 Exploratory Research

• It is usually conducted when the researcher does not

know much about the problems.

• Exploratory research is usually conducted at the

outset of research projects.

Ch 5 33
 Exploratory Research

• A variety of methods are available to conduct

exploratory research.

• Secondary Data Analysis

• Case Analysis
• Focus Groups

Ch 5 34
Descriptive Research
• Descriptive research is undertaken to describe
answers to questions of who, what, where, when,
and how.

• It is desirable when we wish to project a study’s

findings to a larger population, if the study’s
sample is representative.

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 Research Design: Descriptive Research

Two basic classifications:

• Cross-sectional studies
• Longitudinal studies

Ch 5 36
 Classification of Descriptive Research
Studies
• Cross-sectional studies measure units from a sample
of the population at only one point in time.
• Sample surveys: are cross-sectional studies
whose samples are drawn in such a way as to be
representative of a specific population.

Ch 5 37
 Classification of Descriptive Research
Studies

Cross-sectional studies take “snapshots”

of the population at a point in time.

Ch 5 38
 Classification of Descriptive Research
Studies
• Longitudinal studies repeatedly measure the same sample
units of a population over time.
• Longitudinal studies often make use of a panel which
represents sample units who have agreed to answer
questions at periodic intervals.
• Many large research firms maintain panels of consumers.

Ch 5 39
 Marketing Research Panels
• Continuous panels ask panel members the same
questions on each panel measurement.
• Discontinuous panels vary questions from one panel
measurement to the next.

• They are sometimes referred to as omnibus

(“including or covering many things or classes”).

Ch 5 40
 Causal Research
Causality may be thought of as understanding
a phenomenon in terms of conditional
statements of the form “If x, then y.”

Causal studies are conducted through the use of

experiments.

Ch 5 41
 Experiments

• An experiment is defined as manipulating an

independent variable to see how it affects a
dependent variable, while also controlling the
effects of additional extraneous variables.

Ch 5 42
 Variable

An aspect of the research

environment that can change

Ch 5 43
• Control variables are those
variables that may have
some effect on a dependent
• variable yet variables
Independent
• Dependent
are not are those
variables are
independent
variables variables.
those which
measuredthe researcher
in an
hasexperiment
control over and wishes to
manipulate.
• Extraneous variables must be
controlled through proper
• Examples
• experimental
For would
example: design.
level be
of ad
return ontype
expenditure; investment, net
of ad appeal;
profits,
price; market
product share,
features, etc.
customer satisfaction.

Ch 5 44
http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/angelacovil/506/procedure.html
 Independent Variable

• Independent variables are those variables which the

researcher has control over and wishes to
manipulate.
• For example: level of ad expenditure; type of ad
appeal; price; product features, etc.

Ch 5 45
 Dependent Variables

• Dependent variables are those variables that

we have little or no direct control over, yet
we have a strong interest in.
• Examples would be return on investment, net
profits, market share, customer satisfaction.

Ch 5 46
 Extraneous Variables

• Control variables are those variables that may have some

effect on a dependent variable yet are not independent
variables.

• Extraneous variables must be controlled through proper

experimental design.
(Extraneous and Control variables are any variables that
you are not intentionally studying in your experiment or
test. )

Ch 5 47
 Example
• Controlled variables are quantities that a scientist wants to
remain constant, and she or he must observe them as carefully as
the dependent variables.
e.g. a dog experiment, you would need to control how hungry the
dogs are at the start of the experiment, the type of food you are
feeding them, and whether the food was a type that they liked.
Why? If you did not, then other explanations could be given for
differences you observe in how much they eat.

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Example
• E.g. If online learning increases student understanding of
statistics.
One group (A) uses an online knowledge base to study,
The other group (B) uses a traditional text.
• Extraneous variables could include prior knowledge of
statistics; you would have to make sure that group A roughly
matched group B with prior knowledge before starting the
study.
• Other extraneous variables could include amount of support
in the home, socio-economic income, or temperature of the
testing room.

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Experiment Reliability and Validity

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 How Valid are Experiments?

• An experiment is valid if it has:

• Internal validity: which measures the extent to which the
change in the dependent variable is actually due to the
change in the independent variable.

Ch 5 51
 How Valid are Experiments?

• An experiment is valid if it has:

• External validity: which refers to the extent that the
relationship observed between the independent and
dependent variables during the experiment is
generalizable to the “real world.”

Ch 5 52
 Types of Experiments

• Laboratory experiments are those in which the independent

variable is manipulated and measures of the dependent
variable are taken in a contrived, artificial setting for the
purpose of controlling the many possible extraneous
variables that may affect the dependent variable.

e.g. Hotel website performance better

to do the evaluation at a lab make
sure all the electronic devices in the
same condition.

Ch 5 53
 Types of Experiments
Field experiments are those in which the independent
variables are manipulated and the measurements of
the dependent variable are made on test units in their
natural setting (so cannot really control extraneous
variables).

Ch 5 54