RESEARCH DESIGN

Significance and Types

 OBJECTIVES
1. demonstrate thorough understanding
of the concepts of research design
2. define research design
3. explain the significance, concept and
principles of research design
4. identify the different types of research
design
5. conceptualize the appropriate research
design for the chosen research problem
Answer the given problems. Use a
separate sheet of paper.

1.In two to three sentences, write

your own understanding of the
following concept: Research
Design.
Answer the given problems. Use a
separate sheet of paper.

1.In two to three sentences, write

your own understanding of the
following concept: Research Design.
2.Identify the type of research design
that is described in the items below.
Use the following types of design in
identifying the type.
• Quantitative Method
• Qualitative Method
A. It is used to determine the
pattern of extent change in a
phenomenon, situation, etc. in
relation to time.
B. It attempts to establish the
outcome of an event, or what is
likely to happen in the future.
C. It has an assumption of a cause-
and-effect relationship when an
intervention is introduced or
used.
Research Design
• Different textbooks place
different meanings on research
design.
• Some authors consider research
design as the choice between
qualitative & quantitative
research methods.
• Others argue that research
design refers to the choice of
specific methods of data
collection and analysis.
Important elements of research
design include:
• research strategies
• methods related to data
collection and analysis.
The following are words/phrases that you
could possibly come across in this lesson.
Arrange the letters to form the correct
words.
1. NSIDGE DESIGN
2. UANQITTAETVIQUANTITATIVE
3. IVTEATIQLAU QUALITATIVE
4. ESCA UDYTS CASE STUDY
5. HPYETHONAGR ETHNOGRAPHY
INVESTIGATION
6. INGATOINVESTOI
7. THEYRO DEDNRUOG
GROUNDED THEORY
RESEARCH DESIGN
• refers to the plan, structure, and
strategy of investigation so
conceived as to obtain answer to
research questions or problems
• the complete scheme or program
of the research
DESIGN
• includes an outline of what the
investigator will do from writing
the hypothesis and their
operational implications to the
final analysis of data
(Kerlinger; in Kumar, 2011)
After the research topic has been
finalized, the researcher has to:
• plan details of what design to use
• what type of data will provide
answers to the problems of the
study
• how the data will be gathered,
presented, analyzed, and
interpreted
The research design guides the
researcher in planning the
following aspects or procedures of
research:
• identify the population of the
study
• decide whether to take the whole
population or just select a sample
• how the sample of the study will
be selected
• ethics in the selection of the
samples and data gathering
• choice of method in data
collection
• considerations in the use of
questionnaires
• how interviews will be
conducted
Research Design in QUALITATIVE
Data Collection Method

Qualitative data collection methods

• exploratory in nature
Qualitative data collection methods
• mainly concerned with gaining
insights and understanding on
underlying reasons and
motivations
Qualitative data collection methods
• emerged after it has become
known that traditional
quantitative data collection
methods were unable to express
human feelings and emotions
Qualitative data collection methods
• often regarded as providing rich
data about real life people and
situations and being more able to
make sense of behavior and to
understand behavior within its
wider context
However, qualitative research is
often
criticized for:
• lacking generalization, being too
reliant on the subjective
interpretations of researchers
• being incapable of replication by
5 Common Qualitative Research
Design Approaches

•1. Historical Study

•2. Phenomenology
•3. Grounded Theory
•4. Ethnography
•5. Case Study
 1. Historical Study
Purpose
• Looking at the past to inform the
future.
Definition
• Describing and examining past
events to better understand the
present and to anticipate potential
effects on the future.
 1. Historical Study
Definition
•To identify a need for knowledge
that requires a historical
investigation.
•Piecing together a history,
particularly when there are no
people living to tell their story.
 1. Historical Study

Methods
•Documents
•Oral recordings
•Interviews
 1. Historical Study
Strengths
•Can provide a fuller picture of the
scope of the research as it covers
a wider range of sources.
•Example: documents such as
diaries, oral histories & official
records & newspaper reports
were used to identify scurvy
 1. Historical Study
Strengths
and smallpox epidemic among
Klondike gold rushers (Highet p3).

Alaska Prospectors, 1897

 1. Historical Study

Strengths
•Unobtrusiveness of this
research method.
 1. Historical Study
Limitations
•Issues with validity – can only
use the historical information
that is available today.
•Primary sources are hard to
locate.
 1. Historical Study
Limitations
•Hard to triangulate findings (find
other resources to back up the
information provided in the
original resource).
 1. Historical Study
Example Study
Hallett, C. E., Madsen, W., Pateman, B., &
Bradshaw, J. (2012). "Time enough! Or not
enough time!" An oral history investigation
of some British and Australian community
nurses' responses to demands for
"efficiency" in health care, 1960-2000.
Nursing History Review, 20, 136-161.
 2. Phenomenology
Purpose
• used to describe the lived
experience of individuals

Definition
• explains how individuals experience
a phenomenon and how they feel
about it
 2. Phenomenology
Definition
•This model recognizes that there
is no single objective reality;
instead, everyone experiences
things differently.
 2. Phenomenology
Methods
•This model recognizes that there
is no single objective reality;
instead, everyone experiences
things differently.
 2. Phenomenology
Methods
•participant observation
•in-depth interviews with open-
ended questions
•conversations & focus workshops
 2. Phenomenology
Strengths
•a powerful way to understand
subjective experience and to gain
insights around people’s actions
and motivations
 2. Phenomenology
Strengths
•may contribute to the
development of new theories,
changes in policies, or changes in
responses
 2. Phenomenology
Limitations
•Participants may not be able to
express themselves articulately
enough due to language barriers,
cognition, age, or other factors.
 2. Phenomenology
Limitations
•Gathering data and data analysis
may be time consuming and
laborious.
•Results require interpretation
without researcher bias.
•Does not produce easily
generalizable data.
 2. Phenomenology
Example Questions
• How do cancer patients cope with a
terminal diagnosis?
• What is it like to survive a plane crash?
• What are the experiences of long-term
careers of family members with a
serious illness or disability?
• What is it like to be trapped in a natural
disaster, such as a flood or earthquake?
 2. Phenomenology
Example Study
•The patient-body relationship
and the "lived experience" of a
facial burn injury: a
phenomenological inquiry of
early psychosocial adjustment.
• Individual interviews were carried
out for this study.
3. ETHNOGRAPHY
 3. Ethnography
Purpose
• to describe the characteristics of a
particular culture / ethnographic group.

Definition
• the study of culture
• in many ways similar to anthropology;
this being the study of human societies
and cultures.
 3. Ethnography
Methods
•The researcher places
themselves as a ‘participant
observer’ amidst the culture.
 3. Ethnography
Methods
•observation
•interviews
•focus groups
•review of documentary
evidence
•keeping field notes
 3. Ethnography
Strengths
•Direct insight into the lives and
experiences of the people and
the group of interest.
•Allows for rich detailed data to
be collected (Howitt, 2019).
 3. Ethnography
Strengths
• Provides an opportunity for researchers
to uncover new unknown ways of
thinking.
• Researchers may become aware of
behaviors, trends and beliefs that are
present within one culture although these
may be previously unknown to other
cultures. This enables new opportunities
for improved ways of viewing and solving
 3. Ethnography
Limitations
• Biases can be apparent because a
researcher will always bring with them
their own culture and own perspective
which may impact their interpretations of
the experiences they observe within this
different culture.
• Genuine co-operation and engagement
from the people of interest may not
always be forthcoming and rapport might
 3. Ethnography
Limitations
• There can be a greater cost involved for
this study type than others.
• Certain logistics can pose challenges for
this type of research approach, such as
travelling and gaining access to
communities depending on their unique
cultural values, for example there are
many indigenous societies that only
permit people of certain genders to have
 3. Ethnography
Limitations
• As the setting may be very specific to
a particular group or community of
people it may not be possible to
generalise and apply the findings very
broadly.
• Researchers need to be aware of the
impact that their presence can have on
the behaviours of the population they
 3. Ethnography
Example Study
•Masculinities and eating
practices in the Philippines: An
ethnographic study (Rachel Winter,
October 2017)
 3. Ethnography

“To research this I used ethnography,

taking a participant-as-observer role,
and autophotography, giving
participants cameras to photograph
their meals. Data collection was over
an 89-day period, spent
predominantly in Manila. “ – Rachel
Winter