6 LEARNING UNIT 6
6 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

6.1 INTRODUCTION
A researcher needs to select the research design used for their research study based
on a number of criteria. In this learning unit, we look at quantitative research designs
and the use of big data.
Learning unit 6 is intended to help you understand the important concepts of research.
Chapter 9 of the prescribed book (Fouché, C.B., Strydom, H. & Roestenburg, W.J.H.
[Eds.]. 2020. Research at grass roots – for the social sciences and human services professions.
5th edition. Cape Town: Van Schaik – ISBN 9780627038211) is titled quantitative
research designs practice. In this chapter, the types of quantitative research designs
are discussed. We also look at chapter 10 in the prescribed book, big data in social
science research. Chapter 10 focuses on conceptualising big data, the architectural
layers of big data platforms and big data analysis.

FIGURE 6.1
Module outline (lesson 6)

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 LEARNING UNIT 6: Quantitative research design

6.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After working through this learning unit and the relevant parts of the prescribed
book, you should be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of various quantitative research designs by means

of an integrated classification scheme
• gain some perspective on different non-experimental and experimental quantitative
research designs
• gain a better understanding of big data and big data analytics in the human
services and social research environments
• demonstrate an understanding of the five major architectural layers of big data
platforms
• identify different tools and/or cloud technologies for big data analysis
• explain the nature, benefits and challenges of big data in the human services
professions
• explain the link between big data and social research

6.3 CONTENT OF THE LEARNING UNIT

To achieve the aim and learning outcomes of this unit, you will cover the following
topics in chapter 9 of the prescribed book:

(1) defining research design

(2) types of quantitative research design
(3) internal and external validity of experimental designs

We will also look at the following topics in chapter 10 of the prescribed book:

(1) conceptualising big data

(2) architectural layers of big data platforms
(3) big data analysis
(4) big data in human services professions and social science research

After reading and thinking about the contents of chapter 9 and chapter 10 of the
prescribed book, you will have to explain the concepts of quantitative research
designs and big data.

6.4 KEY CONCEPTS

The following key terms are important in this learning unit:

• classification • big data analytics

• non-experimental • challenges
• research design • cloud technology
• quantitative • internet of things (IoT)
• quasi-experimental • platforms
• true experimental
• benefits
• big data

Remember to take a look at the glossary of terms that has been uploaded on myUnisa
under Additional Resources. If you see a term and you do not know what it means,

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stop and go to the glossary. This will familiarise you with the terminology of research
and you will get comfortable with the content of this module much quicker.

https://mymodules.dtls.unisa.ac.za/pluginfile.php/15594258/mod_folder/content/0/
SMA4801_Glossary%20of%20terms%20Eng.docx?forcedownload=1

After working through the learning unit, you should be able to explain all of the
above-mentioned concepts. These concepts are all explained or defined in the
prescribed textbook and this unit.

6.5 DEFINING RESEARCH DESIGN

Study the section titled defining research design in the prescribed textbook.
Selecting your research design forms part of step 8 in the research process.

FIGURE 6.2
The research process: select a research design

6.6 TYPES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

Study the section titled quantitative research designs in the prescribed textbook.
This section of the prescribed textbook describes two main categories of quantitative
research designs, namely non-experimental and experimental, as depicted in figure
6.3 below.

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 LEARNING UNIT 6: Quantitative research design

FIGURE 6.3
Quantitative research designs (Fouché at al., 2020:160)

ACTIVITY 6.1: T
 YPES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
DESIGN

You need to log on to myUnisa to access and complete this activity. Remember that
the SMA4801 myUnisa site is a vital part of your module content.
What are the most significant differences between the various types of experimental
design?
(1) Degree of control on the variables being studied: The pre-experimental design
has the least amount of control on the variables, the true experimental design
has the most, while the quasi-experimental design is somewhere in the middle.
The more control a design allows, the easier it is to attribute a cause-and-effect
sequence of events.
(2) Degree of randomness: The degree of randomness between the designs varies ac-
cording to the random selection of participants from a population to form a sample
and to assign participants randomly to different groups.
(3) Presence of a comparison or control group: The pre-experimental designs include
a comparison group in some cases, but usually not a control group. True experi-
mental designs always include a control group, while quasi-experimental designs
include a control group sometimes.

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ACTIVITY 6.2: T
 YPES OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
DESIGN

You need to log on to myUnisa to access and complete this activity. Remember that
the SMA4801 myUnisa site is a vital part of your module content.
*After reading the options available to you as a quantitative researcher, choose one
of the quantitative research designs you would use and provide a brief explanation.
Remember to comment on the answers posted by other students.

6.7 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VALIDITY OF EXPERIMENTAL

DESIGNS
Study the section titled internal and external validity of experimental designs in
the prescribed textbook. Pay close attention to the difference between internal and
external validity and the threats to both internal and external validity. This section
of the prescribed textbook concludes with a discussion of how you as researcher can
increase the internal and external validity of your study.

6.8 CONCEPTUALISING BIG DATA

Study the section titled conceptualising big data in chapter 10 of the prescribed
textbook, paying close attention to the context of big data, the four V’s of big data
and big data analytics. The textbook highlights volume, variety, velocity and veracity
as the four V’s of big data. However, we can add an additional two V’s of big data
namely value (the business value of the collected data) and variability (the different
ways in which big data can be used) (Botelho & Bigelow, n.d.).

As you can see in your prescribed textbook, big data analytics are divided into four
types: descriptive, predictive, prescriptive, and diagnostic. Big data falls within the
data management body of knowledge (DMBOK) that provides a framework of the
concepts relating to data science.

Big data is a combination of different types of data (structured, semi-structured and

unstructured data) collected by organisations and used for predictive modelling,
machine learning and other types of analytics (Botelho & Bigelow, n.d.).

Take a look at this video, explaining what big data is and what it is used for:

https://youtu.be/jH44SfUNpWw

6.9 ARCHITECTURAL LAYERS OF BIG DATA PLATFORMS

Study the section titled architectural layers of big data platforms in the prescribed
textbook. In this section of the prescribed textbook you will find a discussion of
the five architectural layers of a big data analytical platform. These five layers are
summarised in figure 6.4.

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 LEARNING UNIT 6: Quantitative research design

FIGURE 6.4
Five layers of big data management (Fouché et al., 2020:186)

6.10 BIG DATA ANALYSIS

Study the section titled big data analysis in the prescribed textbook. This section
of the prescribed textbook provides more information on the specific tools that can
be used for big data analysis and the role of cloud technology in big data.

6.11 BIG DATA IN HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONS AND SOCIAL

SCIENCE RESEARCH
Study the section titled big data in human services professions and social science
research in the prescribed textbook. The human services and social science research
environment can be the source of a diverse collection of information, ranging from
medical information of patients to the financial detail of the companies operating in
this area. Using big data improves the integration of information within the social
research environment (remember, management sciences form part of social research
to a great extent).

Big data assists in improving applications and other processes, understanding customer
needs in all industries, including targeted advertising and making content available
on demand. Big data assists in tracking health-related patterns such as pandemics and

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also tracking student engagement and learning in the higher education environment.
It assists in creating predictive models for the manufacturing industry and optimise
the use of natural resources. Governments use big data to detect crimes such as
fraud and identify healthcare needs of the citizens. The financial and specifically the
insurance industry relies heavily on big data for fraud detection, claims management
and predictive analysis (Simplilearn, 2022).

On the other hand, using big data is also associated with a few disadvantages. As
recent news media events shows, big data and data analytics are associated with
privacy issues.

ACTIVITY 6.3: B
 IG DATA IN HUMAN SERVICES
PROFESSIONS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
RESEARCH

You need to log on to myUnisa to access and complete this activity. Remember that
the SMA4801 myUnisa site is a vital part of your module content.
Download the publication by Deloitt, Have it all – protecting privacy in the age of analytics
and briefly explain how not all non-personal data is the same (https://www2.deloitte.com/
content/dam/Deloitte/ca/Documents/Analytics/ca-en-analytics-ipc-big-data.pdf).

6.12 SUMMARY OF LEARNING UNIT

This learning unit provided a definition of research design as well as a detailed look
at the types of quantitative research design and the aspects surrounding internal and
external validity of experimental designs. We also looked at the conceptualising of
big data, the architectural layers of big data platforms, big data analysis and finally,
big data in human services professions and social science research.

The next learning unit will look at the research process (Learning unit 7) including
a discussion of quantitative data collection and quantitative sampling techniques in
lesson 7.

6.13 REFERENCES
Botelho, B & Bigelow, SJ. N.d. What is big data? Techtarget.com. Retrieved from
https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/big-data.
Fouché, C.B., Strydom, H. & Roestenburg, W.J.H. (Eds.). 2021. Research at grass
roots – for the social sciences and human services professions. 5th edition. Cape Town:
Van Schaik.
Simplilearn. 2022. Top 10 big data applications examples: healthcare, entertainment and
more. Retrieved from https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/big-data-tutorial/
big-data-applications.

Assessment 3 MCQ

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