RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is a major step in research process. It involves preparing detailed plans and
procedures. It is a master plan or blueprint for conducting a formal investigation. It is a road map or
a basic plan that guides the research process.

Research design is a systematic planning and organising a research project within a specified time
limit and resource allocation. Facilitates smooth sailing of various research operations and yields
maximum information at minimum expense of effort, time and money

Step in planning the Research design

1. Determining work involved in the project.

2. Estimating costs involved

3. Preparing time schedule

4. Verifying results

Importance/utility of research design

Research design is important as it prepares proper framework within which the research
work/activity will be actually carried out. Research design acts as a blue print for the conduct of the
whole.

Significance of Research Design

 It is a guideline to the researcher. Enables the researcher to collect the right data from
the right source
 The research design helps in organizing resources like the funds, equipment required
and man power.
 It is a direction to the research staff as to how to go about the research process. And it is
the medium used to give training to the staff to collect relevant data.
 A well plotted research design helps to select the appropriate technique for the
research.
 Helps collect relevant data at the right area, within a specified time frame and an
accurate sample size.
 Research design helps to achieve the objectives of research
 Helps in monitoring expenditure.
 Research design helps in improvement of decision making.
Types of Research design:

On the basis of information to be collected, research designs can be classified into the following
three categories:

a) Exploratory research

b) Descriptive research

c) Causal research

Exploratory Research

Exploratory research aims to develop initial hunches or insights and provide direction for any further
research needed.

The primary purpose of exploratory research is to shed light on the nature of a situation and identify
any specific objectives or data needs to be addressed through additional research.

Exploratory research is most useful when a decision maker wishes to better understand a situation
and/or identify decision alternatives.

Exploratory research is conducted when decision makers sense a need for marketing research but
are unsure of the specific direction the research should take.

Conducting Exploratory Research

 Key-Informant Technique
Conducting exploratory research by interviewing knowledgeable individuals is sometimes
called the key-informant technique.
It is also known as an expert-opinion survey or a lead-user survey.
An effective way to do exploratory research is to seek out and talk to individuals with
expertise in areas related to the situation being investigated.
The technique is necessarily a very subjective and flexible procedure with no standard
approach.
In today’s fast-changing technological world, very few individuals possess all of the relevant
information about the market.
Careful attention must be given to the selection of knowledgeable people.
This observation is not limited to business-to-business market settings; it is relevant in
almost every context requiring exploratory research.
 When properly used, the key-informant technique can be very productive in situations
where a decision maker senses the need for research but lacks well-defined research
objectives.

 Focus Group Interviews

In a focus group interview, an objective discussion leader introduces a topic to a group of
respondents and directs their discussion of that topic in a non-structured and natural
fashion.
This is sometimes simply called a focus group.
Respondents (typically about 8 to 12) discuss a given topic in a fairly informal fashion.
A well-trained researcher, called a moderator, leads the discussion.
The moderator’s primary tasks are to ensure that key aspects of the topic are discussed and
to observe or record the participants’ reactions.
Focus groups are used in a variety of situations.

 Analysis of Secondary Data

Examining appropriate secondary data is a fast and inexpensive way of conducting
exploratory research that can generate valuable insights.
Such insights, in turn, will provide a proper focus for conclusive research. Sometimes the
insights revealed by secondary-data analysis may even eliminate the need for conclusive
research.

 Case Study Method

The case study method is an in-depth examination of a unit of interest.
The unit can be a customer, store, salesperson, firm, market area, website, and so on.
By virtue of its insight-generating potential, the case study method is a useful form of
exploratory research.
This method is suitable in a research setting in which the company has a general research
objective but is unsure of exactly what it is looking for.
It involves collecting in-depth data on a variety of important dimensions or factors for the
unit of interest.
Only the investigator’s time and imagination limit the number and types of factors to be
examined.
The analysis of case data is not quantitative and primarily involves numerous comparisons
and contrasts of the data.
It requires an alert investigator capable of recognizing even subtle differences across cases
as well as possible relationships among factors within a case.

 Observational Method
 The observational method involves human or mechanical observation of what people
actually do or what events take place during a buying or consumption situation.
In this method of data collection, researchers or mechanical/electronic devices witness and
record information as events occur or compile evidence from past events.
It is useful to assess behavior such as use of products, frequency of store visits, teens
shopping with and without supervision, use of media, and time spent on specific websites.
It is particularly useful in researching young children, a group that is typically not amenable
to many research techniques.

Exploratory research is not limited to the five methods just described, although they are the most
frequently used methods. Variations or combinations of these methods can also be employed in an
exploratory research project.

Insights gained through exploratory research pave the way for conclusive research. Many research
projects involve an exploratory phase followed by a conclusive phase.

Descriptive Research

The goal of descriptive research, as the name implies, is essentially to describe something.

It is intended to generate data describing the composition and characteristics of relevant groups of
units such as customers, salespeople, organizations, and market areas.

Data collected can provide valuable information about the study units along relevant characteristics
and about associations among those characteristics.

A drawback of descriptive research is that it generally cannot provide the type of evidence necessary
to make causal inferences about relationships among variables.

Conducting Descriptive Research

Descriptive research is by far the more frequently used form of conclusive research. Descriptive
research studies are classified into two basic types: cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies.

 Cross-Sectional Studies
Cross-sectional studies are one-time studies involving data collection at a single period in
time.
They provide a “snapshot” of a situation being researched.
Cross-sectional studies can also be used to obtain data pertaining to different periods in
time.
 A cross-sectional study makes use of a cross-sectional sample or a group of units (e.g.,
consumers, stores, organizations) selected specifically and solely for the one-time data
collection.
The sample is disbanded after the data are collected. Several firms maintain omnibus panels
as a source of samples for cross-sectional studies. Such samples are composed of panel
members who are returned to the panel after participating in a cross-sectional study.
Within the domain of descriptive research the cross-sectional study is the most popular
method.
Cross-sectional studies account for the majority of formal research projects involving
primary-data collection.

 Longitudinal Studies
Longitudinal studies are repeated-measurement studies that collect data over several
periods of time.
The primary purpose of longitudinal studies is to monitor changes over time.
A longitudinal study produces a “motion picture” (or a series of snapshots) of a situation
over time.
In general, longitudinal studies are more informative than cross-sectional studies, just as
motion pictures are more revealing than still pictures.
Longitudinal studies are also more expensive than cross-sectional studies.
A longitudinal study typically employs a panel, or a group of units recruited to provide
measurements over a period of time.
At the conclusion of each measurement phase, a panel is maintained intact for future use.
Successive measurements in longitudinal studies can be obtained from a physically different
but representative sample of units or from the same sample of units each time.
Although both sample options will yield longitudinal data, the nature of the findings and the
implications can differ.

Causal or Experimental Research

Experimental research (also known as causal research) allows one to make causal inferences (e.g.,
how variable X affects variable Y).

To be able to say that X has a causal influence on Y, we must gather data under controlled conditions
—that is, holding constant, or neutralizing the effect of all variables other than X capable of
influencing Y and systematically manipulating the levels of X to study its impact on Y.

Manipulation of the presumed causal variable and control of other relevant variables are distinct
features of experimental research.

Conducting Causal or Experimental Research

Causal or Experimental research is intended to generate the type of evidence necessary for
confidently making causal inferences about relationships among variables.
To make causal inferences with confidence, then, we must manipulate the causal variable and
effectively control the other variables. Another condition is that the causal variable and effect
variable must occur in the proper time sequence.

Determining Which Type of Research to Conduct

Choosing the most appropriate type of research in a situation—exploratory or conclusive—is

somewhat subjective.

Exploratory research is most appropriate in situations where the research objectives are general and
data requirements are unclear. Insights gained through exploratory research typically form the
foundation for more formal conclusive research. Occasionally, exploratory research results may
strongly suggest that further research of a conclusive nature may be unnecessary or unproductive.

In situations calling for conclusive research, the choice of the type depends on whether testing
causal relationships among variables is the primary research purpose.

If so, some form of experimental research is appropriate.

If not, descriptive research will suffice.

The descriptive-versus-experimental distinction exists more along a research continuum than as a

clear-cut dichotomy.

At times tentative causal statements can be made on the basis of data from a well-designed and
conducted descriptive research study.

Pure experimental research studies are rare.