DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

• Descriptive research provides answers to the questions of:

– Who
– What
– Where
– When
– How
 Descriptive Research is designed to provide further
insight into the research problem by describing the
variables of interest.
 The major purpose of descriptive research is the
description of the state of affairs as it exists at
present.

E.g. RESEARCH ON CRIME IS DESCRIPTIVE WHEN IT MEASURES

THE TYPES OF CRIME COMMITTED, HOW OFTEN, WHEN,
WHERE, AND BY WHOM.

 A descriptive research is one which describes, records,

analyses and interprets the conditions that exist.
 The main characteristic of this type of research is that the
researcher has no control over the variables. He can only
report what has happened or what is happening.
 Descriptive research studies are aimed at describing or
portraying the characteristics of a particular individual,
group or a situation.
To estimate the proportion of people in a specified
population who behave in a certain way
e.g.: shopping persons who buy from a particular
shop.
To determine whether certain variables are associated eg:
income and usage of a product.
Methods used for descriptive research are:
 Secondary data
Secondary source of data is much cheaper to access
than carrying out a full fledged survey.
 Surveys
Carried out with the help of questionnaires and
observations.
 Panel
A fixed sample of respondents provides data on a
continuous basis as against survey information,
which is just once.
Descriptive studies are divided into two:
  Longitudinal
Longitudinal Design is a panel of sample respondents
chosen from defined population who are interviewed and
then re-interviewed from time to time.

 Cross sectional
Cross sectional design creates a picture of the
phenomenon as desired by marketer.
Longitudinal is further subdivided into two:
 True panel
It relies on repeated measurements of the same variables.
 Omnibus panel
A sample of members is selected and maintained but the
information collected from the members varies.
Cross sectional is further divided into
 Field study
 Field survey
Eg:1 A study to determine the demand for small cars in India
for the next decades.
Eg:2 A bank manager wants to have a profile of individuals
who have loan payments outstanding for 6 months or more.
 Uses of Descriptive research
• To make specific prediction eg: sales of a companies
product.
• To estimate the proportion of people in a specified
population who behave in certain way.
• To describe the characteristics of certain group, people of
community.
 Disadvantages of Descriptive research
• The respondents may ignore the some questions or the
whole questionnaire.
• The results may be more subjective in nature.