MTRES- INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE RESEARCH
RESEARCH DESIGN
TRANSCRIBED BY: Elvambuena, A.C
WEEK 7: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
` IMPORTANCE AND PURPOSE
● Research Design is a plan to answer your
research question. A research method is a
strategy used to implement that plan.
Research design and methods are different
but closely related, because good research
design ensures that the data you obtain will
help you answer your research question
more EFFECTIVELY
● A research design is a strategy for answering
your research question using empirical data.
Creating a research design means making
decisions about:
● Your overall research objectives and
approach
● The type of research design you’ll use
● Your sampling methods or criteria for
selecting subjects
● Your data collection methods
● The procedures you’ll follow to collect data
● Your data analysis methods
● A well-planned research design helps
ensure that your methods match your
research aims and that you use the right
kind of analysis for your data.
● Research Design stands for advance
planning of the methods to be used for
collecting the relevant data and the
techniques to be used in their analysis,
keeping in view the objective of the
research and the availability of staff, time
and money.
` FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN THE CHOICE
` OF A RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Type of Data
2. Nature of Data to be analyzed
3. Request questions to be answered
4. Research Goal or Objective
`
` TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGNS `
Quantitative Research Design
● a researcher examines the various variables
` while including numbers as well as statistics
in a project to analyze its findings.
● The use of graphics, figures, pie charts is the
main form of data collection measurement
and meta-analysis (it is information about
the data by the data).
Qualitative Research Design
● This type of research is quite contrary to
quantitative research design.
● It is explanatory in nature and always seeks
answers to “What’s” and “How’s”. It mainly
focuses on why a specific theory exists and
what would be the respondent’s answer to
it.
● This allows a researcher to draw a
conclusion with proper findings. Case
studies are mainly used in Qualitative
Research Design in order to understand
various social complexities.
QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE
Focuses on putting ideas Concentrate on generating
and hypotheses to the test ideas and developing a
theory or hypothesis
Math and statistical were Summarizing, classifying,
used to examine the and analyzing data were
situation used to conduct the
analysis
Numbers, graphs, and Mostly represented with
tables are the most words
common forms of
expression
`
` It necessitates the Only a few people are
participation of a large required to answer
number of people
 MTRES- INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE RESEARCH `
RESEARCH DESIGN
TRANSCRIBED BY: Elvambuena, A.C

DESCRIPTIVE
● In a descriptive composition, a researcher is
solely interested in describing the situation
or case under their research study.
● Theory-based design method created by
gathering, analyzing, and presenting
collected data.
● Allows a researcher to provide insights into
the why and how of research.
● Helps others better understand the need for
the research. If the problem statement is
not clear, you can conduct exploratory
research.
EXPERIMENTAL
● Establishes a relationship between the
cause and effect of a situation.
● It is a causal design where one observes the
impact caused by the independent variable
on the dependent variable. For example,
one monitors the influence of an
independent variable such as a price on a
dependent variable such as customer
satisfaction or brand loyalty.
● It is an efficient research method as it
contributes to solving a problem.
DIAGNOSTIC
● In diagnostic design, the researcher is
looking to evaluate the underlying cause of
a specific topic or phenomenon.
● This method helps one learn more about
the factors that create troublesome
situations.
● This design has three parts of the research:
○ Inception of the issue
○ Diagnosis of the issue
○ Solution for the issue
EXPLANATORY
● Explanatory design uses a researcher’s ideas
and thoughts on a subject to further explore
their theories.
● The study explains unexplored aspects of a
subject and details the research questions’
what, how, and why.

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
● Is a non-experimental research technique.
● helps researchers establish a relationship
between two closely connected variables.
● There is no assumption while evaluating a
relationship between two other variables,
and statistical analysis techniques calculate
the relationship between them.
● This type of research requires two different
groups.
● A correlation coefficient determines the
correlation between two variables whose
values range between -1 and +1. If the
correlation coefficient is towards +1, it
indicates a positive relationship between
the variables, and -1 means a negative
relationship between the two variables.
 MTRES- INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE RESEARCH `
RESEARCH DESIGN
TRANSCRIBED BY: Elvambuena, A.C

` PROCEDURES IN DATA COLLECTION `

WEEK 9: DEVELOPING PROCEDURES AND
TOOLS FOR DATA GATHERING General Tools Data Format
Procedures
TYPES OF DATA NEEDED IN RESEARCH
● Descriptions Notation Paper, pencil and Recorded in
● Scores other marking sequence
devices
● Measurements
● Opinions Description Pencil, notebook, Putting
● Statements audio, video observations into
● Analyses recorder verbal form
by conveying the
SOURCES OF DATA complete picture
filled with details.
● Participants
● Procedures Analysis A guide is used in Verbal or
● Settings the process Numerical
● Objects
● Records Questioning, Interview guide, Open-ended
● Documents interview, questionnaire, responses :
survey Likert scale & collected as
● Informants
semantic they are written
differential scale by the
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY IN DATA COLLECTION respondents;
Reliability and validity are concepts used to evaluate and structured
the quality of research. They indicate how well a responses:
method, technique or test measures something. collected as
● Reliability- refers to the level of consistency they are received
of the results obtained from an experiment, Testing Tests: Initially raw
i.e: repeatedly of the findings. Thus, if an researcher-made numerical scores;
experiment was repeated using the same test; standardized scaled
set of participants under the same test or listed by
conditions then if the results were reliable category; raw
then they would be consistent (similar) with scores can
be converted into
the past results
percentiles,
● Validity- research refers to how effectively stanines
as assessment tool measures what it is or other derived
supposed to measure scores.

Measurement: May use Most often

interval scale researcher’s own numerical; may
(30,40,50); ordinal scale when also be
scale ready-made verbal, nominal,
(1st,2nd,3rd);
scales are not or ordinal.
nominal scale
available
(assigns
individuals to
some categories)
 MTRES- INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE RESEARCH
RESEARCH DESIGN
TRANSCRIBED BY: Elvambuena, A.C
QUESTIONING: INTERVIEW GUIDE
● Contains questions in sequence that a
researcher will ask the respondents.
● Can include clarifying and probing questions
● Questions:
○ Highly structured
○ Semi-structured
○ Open-ended
Semi-structured interview questions
- Close-ended questions
Eg: How many years have you been a
principal teacher? One year? Two years?
- Open-ended questions
Eg: Could you tell me what you think about
this project?
- Two can be mixed
- There are two kinds of subordinate
questions- Prompt and probe
QUESTIONING: QUESTIONNAIRE AS AN
INSTRUMENT
● Useful too where data are collected using a
written survey
● Appearance appealing, uncluttered,
relatively few items should be included,
directions simple, responses easy to work
out or else .... Respondents will PUT THE
QUESTIONNAIRE ASIDE AND NEGLECT TO
RETURN IT.
● To increase response rate:
● Cover letter should include:
● Time required to respond thoughtfully;
emphasize potential value of the response
to the research; express appreciation in
advance for respondent’s valued time
`
QUESTIONING: QUESTIONNAIRE AS AN
INSTRUMENT: LIKERT SCALE
● Instrument made up of statement that
allows responses of varying levels or series
of gradations
● (typically) provides five possible answers to
a statement or question that allows
respondents to indicate their positive-to-
negative strength of agreement or strength
of feeling regarding the question or
statement.
QUESTIONING: QUESTIONNAIRE AS AN
INSTRUMENT: SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL SCALE
● type of rating scale that weighs
respondents' perceptions of or attitudes
towards a specific subject matter through
an array of questions.
● This rating scale allows individuals,
organizations, and other stakeholders to
measure the emotive meanings of words in
predetermined contexts
● Presents pairs of polar adjectives related to
a word or phrase.
● A continuum usually consisting of 5 or more
blanks is given between the pairs of
adjectives.
● Respondents mark the blank along the
continuum that represents their view..
 MTRES- INTRODUCTION TO MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE RESEARCH `
RESEARCH DESIGN
TRANSCRIBED BY: Elvambuena, A.C

` MEASUREMENTS SCALES ` ● The classic example of an interval scale is

NOMINAL
● A nominal scale is category labels. The
category labels are not ordered, so it
doesn't matter which number comes first.
● For example, the following list has three
items on a nominal scale:
○ Apple (1st)
○ Orange
○ Banana (last option)
● These three items are three categories of
fruits. There is no order in this list. For
example, you can not say that bananas are
greater than apples or oranges.
ORDINAL
● A nominal scale doesn't tell us anything
about the relationship between the
different categories. However, in the ordinal
scale of data, there is an order. However,
the difference between them can not be
quantified. For example, the following list
has three ratings of a product on an ordinal
scale:
○ Good
○ Better
○ Best
● These three items are categories, but they
do have an order. However, we can not
quantify the difference between the two
values. The difference between Better and
Good is not the same as the difference
between Best and Better since these
differences do not make any sense.
the temperature in degrees Celcius. We can
clearly say that 50 degrees C is greater than
40 degrees C. That means there is an order.
We can also say that the difference between
50 and 40 degrees C is the same as the
difference between 70 and 60 degrees C.
The only limitation of the interval scale is
that there is no absolute or true zero.
RATIO
● The ratio scale has all the features of the
Interval scale, and in addition, there is an
absolute or true zero as well.
● The examples of ratio scale include weight,
height, volume etc.
● We know that 10 Kg is greater than 5 Kg.
The difference in weight between 10 Kg and
5 Kg is the same as the difference between
100 Kg and 95 Kg. Also, we do have an
absolute zero here. Anweight of 0 Kg means
that there is no weight.
End.

INTERVAL
● Previously we talked about nominal and
ordinal scales. Both of these scales had data
in the form of categories.
● Interval and ratio scale of data in the form
of numbers or we can say that these two
are numeric scales. In the interval scale, we
do have an order (just like ordinal data), and
we can find the exact difference between
the two values.