Dear POL332 Students

These are the notes for week 2.

Research Design

Research design can be seen as a blueprint or plan. The study design sets out the ways in which
the researcher will find answers to the research question. The design must enable the
researcher to valid and reliable data. The design will be constrained by the time and resources
available for the implementation of the study.

Your design should:

• Provide a description of the components of your research.
• Provide a rationale for your choice of strategy.
• Guide the researcher in terms of requirements and the implementation plan.
• Explain how the key components fit together.

Your design will depend on:

• The amount of resources you have
• The amount of time you have
• The purpose
• Your preferences

A research design is a plan of action for executing a research project that specifies:
• The relevant theory.
• The unit of analysis (individual organization, or country).
• The necessary observable data required.
• How it will be collected, and
• The procedures that will be used to examine the data.

The research plan describes (in a clear and detailed way) how the research will be implemented.
It is directly related to the type of study being conducted and the purpose of the study When
developing a research plan, the following should be considered:

• Who is your target audience?

• What interviewing technique should be used?
• What should the length of the interview be?
• What languages should the interviews be conducted in?
• What is the universe within this study?
• Can the results be transferred to the universe?
• What should the sampling procedure be?
• What should the sample size be?
• Where and how will the fieldwork be conducted?
• How will the data be captured?
• How will the data be analyzed?
• What will the format and content of the report be?
Dimensions of Research

There are several dimensions of research which necessitate various design decisions. Research
design decisions include the following:

• Which cases should be included?

• How many cases should be included?
• Is the phenomena best measured using a dynamic or static design? In other words,
should a case study, cross-sectional study or longitudinal study be conducted?
• What is the most appropriate data collection technique?
• Which method of analysis is most suitable?

Purpose:
• Exploratory;
• Descriptive; DIMENSIONS
• Explanatory.
DIMENSIONS
OF
OF RESEARCH
RESEARCH
Use of the Study:
• Basic
• Applied: Action, Impact
& Evaluation.

Time:
• Case Study;
• Cross-sectional;
• Longitudinal.

Data Collection Technique:

• Qualitative Data
• Quantitative Data

Types of Research

Research can be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory.

Exploratory Research: The purpose of the research can be to explore an area of research that
has not been studied before – this is known as exploratory research. The purpose of exploratory
research is to enable researchers to:
- become familiar with basic facts, people and concerns,
- develop a well-grounded picture of what is occurring,
- generate many ideas and develop tentative theories,
- determine the feasibility of additional research,
- formulate questions and refine issues for more systematic enquiry and
- develop techniques and sense of direction for future research.
Descriptive Research: The purpose of descriptive research is to present a profile of a particular
situation or group. Descriptive research can be used to:
- describe a process, mechanism or relationship,
- find information to stimulate new explanations,
- present basic background information or context,
- create a set of categories or
- classify types.

Explanatory Research: Explanatory research focuses on causality and why events occur. The
purpose of explanatory research is to:
- test competing theories (typically it tests a hypothesis),
- determine the accuracy of a theory or principle,
- advance knowledge about an underlying process,
- link different issues or topics under a common general statement
- build and elaborate on theory,
- extend theories or principles into new areas and
- provide evidence to support or refute an explanation or prediction.

The use of the research can be basic or applied.

Basic Research: Basic research, also referred to academic or pure research, aims to increase
human understanding of society.

Applied Research: Applied research aims to solve social problems. Applied research attempts to
help practitioners accomplish tasks. Applied research can be classified as action research,
impact research or evaluation research. The purpose of action research is to facilitate a political
or social goal. Its goal is empowerment and awareness-raising. Those who are being studied
participate directly in the research process. The research is tied directly to political action.
Evaluation research determines how well a programme or project is working. Its goal is to
estimate the likely consequences of a planned action. It measures the effectiveness of a
programme, policy or procedure.

In terms of the timeframe, the research can take the form of a case study, cross sectional
research or longitudinal research.

Case studies: The case study approach investigates a particular case or cases. The researcher
uses the full range of evidence regarding the chosen case(s). The goal is to learn from that case
to better understand the larger universe of cases. For example, to understand how legislation is
passed in the South African parliament, the researcher might take one bill and intensively study
it from inception to passage. Even a single case study should be well-conceived, well-designed
and use the proper methodology. Single Case” studies lack variation and do not provide
comparison on which to base explanations, or to decide between competing explanations. For
more than one case, the most similar or most different cases may be chosen. For “Most
Different" Cases, the cases will differ on virtually all variables except the one of interest.

Cross-sectional Research: In cross-sectional research the researcher collects data for “cross-
section” of cases at one point in time (either all the cases, or a representative cross section).
Cross sectional research is static. This presents a problem if the phenomenon being studied has
a dynamic character. Many phenomena are time dependent. For example, social attitudes are
often dependent on your age and your experiences. The most important source of attitude
change may be over time, as you age, mature and move from school to work to family.

Longitudinal Research: Longitudinal Research involves research conducted over a period of

time. This can include:

1.Time-series research: The same type of information is collected on a group of people (units)
across multiple time periods. Time series may reveal no aggregate change in a population, but
this may mask significant changes within the population with 2 trends cancelling each other out
in the aggregate and presenting a false picture of stability.

2. Panel Study Research: Exactly the same people are observed over time. This allows the
researcher to track aggregate change over time as well as individual level changes.

3. Cohort Analysis: This involves observing a category (sub-group) of people who share a similar
life-experience in a specific time-period. do not examine the same people over time, we can
examine the same classes of people over time.

There are two broad data collection approaches – quantitative and qualitative. All data
collection techniques have advantages and disadvantages, therefore researchers often draw on
both these approaches in the same study. For quantitative data, statistical analysis will be
conducted. Data can be presented in the form of graphs or tables. For qualitative data, thematic
analysis occurs. The research report then indicates what has been discovered during the course
of the research.

The Quantitative Approach

The quantitative approach relies on the use of numbers. It is concerned with precision,
repeatability, comparison, objectivity and validity. The quantitative approach can include the
following techniques:

1. Surveys:
Uses questionnaires to ask their respondents (usually a sample of a larger population) a series of
questions either face-to-face or telephonically. It a structured method of collecting data that
generates numerical data suitable for statistical analysis. Survey questionnaires can also be self-
administered.
Questionnaires
• Are used in survey research to collect data that generates numerical data suitable for
statistical analysis;
• Questionnaires can be administered face-to-face, telephonically or can be self-
administered.

2.Experiments:
Experimental research uses the logic and principles of natural science. Can be in labs or real life.
Address well-focused questions and are effective for explanatory research.
3. Content Analysis:
Content Analysis is a technique used to examine information or content (for example
newspaper articles). The researcher develops a system for recording specific aspects of the
material.

Quantitative data relies on numbers to form a coding system by cases and variables can be
compared. It usually consists of close-ended questions with predetermined response options.
The respondent chooses an answer from alternatives provided. This enables statistical analysis.

The Qualitative Approach:

The qualitative approach is concerned with people’s motives, experiences and constructions of
reality. There are several qualitative research techniques, for example ethnography, historical-
comparative research, life-stories, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, etc.

Qualitative data:
 Are in the form of documents, and transcripts;
 Uses words or descriptions to record aspects of the world;
 Useful for recording human experiences;
 Analysis is often done by extracting themes/generalizations from evidence which is then
organized to present a coherent picture;

The choice of techniques

• Should generate data that will meet the needs of the research.
• Will be constrained by available time and resources.

Research can also be classified into the deductive and inductive approach.
The Deductive Approach: Begins with an abstract, logical relationship among concepts which is
then tested with empirical evidence.

The Inductive Approach: As observation is conducted, the concepts are refined. Theoretical
generalization generated by an inductive approach is called grounded theory.

Levels of Analysis and Units of analysis:

Your research questions determines the appropriate level of analysis and unit of analysis. The
level of analysis is the focal point of the study while the unit of analysis is “what” or “who is
being studied.

– Level of analysis – do you think the phenomena in question is best understood as

a function of individual behaviour, group behaviour, national behaviour, or
system behaviour? (micro, meso, macro)
– Unit of analysis -- should you study individuals or should you focus on
institutions or countries?
Why is the proper choice of level of analysis so important?
 It tells you what sorts of data to collect.
 It tells you how to structure your hypothesis (if applicable).
 It ensures that we don’t measure something that we conceptualized at one level with
data that measures it at another level.

The Ecological fallacy = collecting data about one level and making conclusions about another
level. For example if you are doing a study on levels of corruption, interviewing people will give
you insight into perceptions of corruption but not insight into levels of corruption.

Design coherence is achieved when the sampling unit and data collection strategy matches the
unit of analysis.

Steps in the Research Process

Different authors have different steps in the research process. In the following diagram the
steps are to choose the topic, develop and focus the research question, design the study, collect
the data, analyse the data, interpreting the data and informing others (this could be doing a
presentation or writing a report). Once the data has been collected, it must be processed and
analysed. The type of analysis depends on the type of data that has been collected.

Steps in the Research Process

Choose Topic
Inform Others

Focus Research Question

Interpret data

Design Study
Analyze Data
Collect data