Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

LE 361: Research Methods I

Research Design

Anthony Adjei-Twum, PhD

Department of Land Economy
Faculty of Built Environment, CABE
 RESEARCH PROCESS
Research Problem

Literature Review

Research Questions

Research Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis
www.knust.edu.gh

Discussion & Report Writing

 Definition of Research Design
1. Research design refers to the outline of the
procedures by which data for a study is
obtained, analysed and interpreted by using
quantitative approach, qualitative approach
or both (Creswell, 2012: 293).

2. A research design is a plan, structure and

strategy of investigation so conceived as to
obtain answers to research questions or
problems. (Kerlinger 1986: 279)
www.knust.edu.gh
 Types of Research
Designs

Qualitative
Quantitative
Combination Approach (Field
Approach
Research)
Mixed
Survey Methods Ethnography

Action
Experimental Research Narrative

Grounded
www.knust.edu.gh
Correlational
Theory
 Survey Research Designs

❑These are procedures in quantitative research in

which investigators administer a survey to a sample
or to the entire population of people to describe the
attitudes, opinions, behaviours, or characteristics of
the population.

❑Researchers learn about a population with less focus

on relating variables or predicting outcomes.

❑Researchers collect quantitative, numbered data

through the use of questionnaires or interviews (e.g.,
one-on-one interviews) and statistically analyse the
www.knust.edu.gh

data.
 Some important Characteristics of Survey
Research Designs
❑ Survey designs do not involve a treatment given to
participants by the researcher as in experimental
designs.
❑ Survey designs cannot explain cause and effect
relationship.
❑ Survey studies describe trends in the data rather
than offering rigorous explanations
❑ Survey researchers often correlate variables, but
their focus is directed more toward learning about a
population and less on relating variables or
predicting outcomes.
www.knust.edu.gh
 When to use Survey Design
1.When you want to describe trends, e.g.
community interests in school bond Issues or
state or national trends about mandatory free
SHS policies.

2.When you want to determine individual

opinions about policy issues e g free SHS policy

3.When you want to identify important beliefs

and attitudes of individuals.
www.knust.edu.gh
Advantages of Survey Design

i. Easy to administer them in a short time.

ii. Economical as a means of data collection.
iii. Can reach a geographically dispersed population.
iv. Can canvass the participants anonymously, without
biasing their responses.

Disadvantages of Survey Design

i. Survey data is self reported information, reporting

only what people think rather than what they do.
ii. Sometimes the response rates are low to validate
claims about the representativeness of thewww.knust.edu.gh
results to
the population.
 Types of Survey Designs

❑ Longitudinal Design:

✓ Involves the survey procedure of collecting data

about trends with the same population; data are
collected over long time.

❑ Cross-sectional Design*:
✓ Also known as one-shot or status studies; and
data are collected at one point in time.

www.knust.edu.gh
 Types of Cross-sectional Designs
Attitudes & • It examines current attitudes, beliefs, opinions
(individuals thought about issues) or practices
Practices (individuals actual behaviours)

Community • This relates to assessment of the needs of a

community in terms of, say, land acquisition and
needs documentation; office

Group • It is a design that compares two or more groups in

Comparisons terms of attitudes, beliefs, opinions or practices.

National • Entails a large-scale assessment of group of people,

say, a regionwide or nationwide survey of property
assessment rate payers involving thousands of participants.
• It involves a survey that provides useful
Program information to decision makers in www.knust.edu.gh
evaluating a
evaluation program, say, upon completion of a workshop or a
course.
 Advantages of Cross-Sectional Design

1.This design has the advantage of measuring

current attitudes or practices.

2.It provides information in a short amount of

time, such as the time required for
administering the survey and collecting the
information.

www.knust.edu.gh
STEPS IN CONDUCTING
SURVEY RESEARCH

1. Decide if a survey is the best design to use.

2. Identify the research questions or hypotheses.
3. Identify the population, the sampling frame, and the
sample.
4. Determine the survey design and data collection
procedures.
5. Develop or locate an instrument.
6. Administer the instrument.
7. Analyze the data to address the research questions or
hypotheses.
8. Write the report.
www.knust.edu.gh
 Types of Research Focus of this
Designs presentation

Qualitative
Quantitative
Combination Approach (Field
Approach
Research)
Mixed
Survey Methods Ethnography

Action
Experimental Research Narrative

Grounded
www.knust.edu.gh
Correlational
Theory
 Ethnographic
Research Designs

Meaning Focus
Procedures for describing, Group of
analysing , and interpreting a
shared patterns of behaviour, people
beliefs, and language that have
develop over time of a culture-
sharing group.

When to use this design

When you have a culture-sharing

When the study of a group
group to study—one that has been
provides understanding of www.knust.edu.gh
together for some time and has
a larger issue.
developed shared values
 Types of Ethnographic Designs

The realist The critical The case

ethnography ethnography study
• Objective account • study of the shared • focuses on an in-
of the situation depth
patterns of a
• Written in the marginalized group
exploration of a
third-person point bounded system
with the aim of
of view • focuses on a
advocacy about
• Report objectively issues of power
program, event,
on the information or activity
and authority
learned from involving
participants individuals rather
without personal thanwww.knust.edu.gh
a group per
bias. se
 Cultural
themes
A culture-
Researcher
sharing
reflexivity
group

Key
Characteristics
Context or of Ethnography
Fieldwork
setting

Description, Shared patterns of

themes, and behaviour, belief,
www.knust.edu.gh
interpretation and language
 Cultural themes

❑It refers to is a general position, declared or implied, that

is openly approved or promoted in a society or group.

❑They are located in ethnographic studies within titles, at

the beginning of the study, purpose statements or in
research questions as a “central phenomenon.”

❑Examples:
✓Persistence in distance education courses
✓Development of students’ social skills in Japan
www.knust.edu.gh
 A culture-sharing group

❑ It involves two or more individuals who have shared

behaviours, beliefs, and language.
❑ Characteristics of a culture-sharing group
✓ It may be small or large.
✓ It interacts on a regular basis, and for over a period
time, say, 3 weeks up to 4 months.
✓ It is a representative of some larger group.
✓ The group has adopted some shared patterns of
behaving, thinking, or talking.

❑ Examples: A group of students, vegetable farmers,

professionals, etc. www.knust.edu.gh
 Shared Patterns of Behaviour, Belief, and
Language
❑A shared pattern in ethnography is a common social interaction
that stabilizes as tacit (understood or implied without being
stated) rules and expectations of the group
❑A behaviour refers to an action taken by an individual in a
cultural setting
❑A belief concerns how an individual thinks about or perceives
things in a cultural setting
❑Language here refers to is how an individual talks to others in a
cultural setting

❑What is the nature of the pattern?

✓ it may be ideal, that is, what should occur;
✓It may be actual, that is, what did occur; www.knust.edu.gh

✓It may be projective , that is, what might have occurred.

 Fieldwork

❑Researchers spend considerable time at participants’ sites where they

live, work, or play to collect data; this facilitates the best
understanding of the patterns of a cultural group
❑During fieldwork, the researcher gathers data in the setting where the
participants are located and where their shared patterns can be
studied
❑Types of Data:
✓ Emic data - information participants supply in a study
✓ Etic data - information representing researcher’s interpretation of
the participants’ perspectives.
✓ Negotiation data - information that the participant and the
researcher agree to use in a study
❑Variety of data collection tools are used to gather data – e.g. various
forms of interview, questionnaire, observations, content analysis,
www.knust.edu.gh

focus group, etc.

 Description, themes, and interpretation

❑Researchers describe and analyse the group, i.e., both the

individuals and sites, and make an interpretation about the patterns
seen and heard
❑Analyse patterns of behaviour, beliefs, and language
❑Reach some conclusions about the meaning learned from studying
the people and the site
❑Description: must be detailed and thick, identifies specifics; awake
the reader’s senses through adjectives, nouns, and verbs that elicit
sounds, sights, feelings, and smells.
❑Themes: distilling how things work and naming the essential
features in themes in the cultural setting
❑ Interpretation: draw inferences and form conclusions about what is
learned at site (most subjective); it reflects some combination of a
personal assessment by the researcher, the literature on the cultural
www.knust.edu.gh

theme, and raising further question based on the data.

 Context or Setting

❑The context refers to the setting, situation, or environment

that surrounds the cultural group being studied
❑The context may be:
✓ Physical location: description of the site, the state of
the building, the colour of the room walls, or the
sounds coming down the hall, etc.
✓ Historical context: individuals experience of a situation
✓ Social condition: long time reunions to build kinship,
status as a profession, earnings and geographic
mobility
✓ Economic conditions: Income levels, working-class,
www.knust.edu.ghetc.
 Researcher Reflexivity

❑This refers to the researcher being aware of and openly

discussing his or her role in the study in a way that honours
and respects the site and participants.

❑This implies that the conclusions drawn by the authors are

often tentative or inconclusive; leading to new questions to
answer.

❑The study might end with questions for which answers

need to be provided or multiple perspectives or viewpoints
could be considered
www.knust.edu.gh
 Steps in conducting
Ethnographic Research
Write the Report
Consistent with Your
Design
Analyze and Interpret
Data within a Design

Use Appropriate Data

Collection Procedures

Discuss Approval and

Access Considerations
Identify Intent and the
Type of Design, www.knust.edu.gh
and Relate Intent to
Your Research Problem
 Identify Intent and the Type of Design,
and Relate Intent to Your Research Problem

Realist Case study Critical

Ethnography Ethnography

To understand a The intent is to The intent is to

culture-sharing develop an in- address an inequity
group depth in society, plans to
To use the group to understanding of a use the research to
develop a deeper case advocate and call
understanding of a for changes, and
cultural theme typically identifies a
specificwww.knust.edu.gh
issue to
study
 Discuss Approval and Access Considerations

❑Obtain approval from the institutional review board

❑Identify the type of purposeful sampling that is available

and that best answers your research questions

❑Locate a site for your research and identify a gatekeeper

who can provide access to the site and participants for
study

❑Guarantee provisions for respecting the site, i.e., you will

not disturb the site and follow good ethical practices
www.knust.edu.gh
 Use Appropriate Data Collection Procedures

❖ Spend considerable time with individuals in the

field
Realist ❖ Enter site slowly and unobtrusively as possible
❖ Build rapport with gatekeepers and key
participants
Researchers collect as many types of data as possible
Case to develop in-depth understanding through
Study interviews, observations, documents, audiovisual
materials, etc.
❖ Less focused on time in the field or the extent of
data but more focused on the collaboration
between the researcher and the participants
Critical
❖ Active involvement of participants – research
questions, data collection, or analysis www.knust.edu.gh
and report
writing
 Analyze and Interpret Data within a Design

❑It involves the process of developing a description,

analyzing data collected for themes, and providing an
interpretation of the meaning
❑Realist may discuss how he or she learned about the
cultural theme in his/her interpretation, reflect back on
what information existed in the literature, and advance how
his/her study added to the understanding of the cultural
theme.
❑Case study analysis procedures will vary depending on
whether in respect of a single case or multiple cases
❑Critical ethnography will focus on the “critical” issue being
study; the needed changes and advocate for improvements
www.knust.edu.gh

in the lives of the participants

 Types of Research
Designs

Qualitative
Quantitative
Combination Approach (Field
Approach
Research)
Mixed
Survey Methods Ethnography

Action
Experimental Research Narrative

Grounded
www.knust.edu.gh
Correlational
Theory
MIXED METHODS DESIGN

www.knust.edu.gh
 What is mixed
methods research?

❑It is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and “mixing” both

quantitative and qualitative methods in a single study or a
series of studies to understand a research problem
(Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).

❑The assumption is that, with both methods used together

in a single study, a better understanding of the research
problem and question is achieved than either method by
itself.
www.knust.edu.gh
 When Do You Conduct a Mixed Methods Study

❑When one intends to build on the strengths of both

quantitative and qualitative data.
❑When either qualitative or quantitative alone is not enough
to address the research problem or answer the research
questions.
❑When one wants to provide an alternative perspective in a
study. E.gs. 1) In an experimental study, the experiment
yields useful information about outcomes while qualitative
data provides more in-depth understanding of how an
intervention actually worked . 2) When a policymaker wants
both the “numbers” and the “stories” about an www.knust.edu.gh
issue.
 Provide a
rationale for the
design
Include
Diagram the collecting
procedures quantitative and
qualitative data
Key characteristics
of Mixed Methods
Designs
Match the data
Consider
analysis to a
priority
design

Consider
sequence www.knust.edu.gh
 NOTE

As a matter of necessity, mixed methods research

must involve:
❖ At least one quantitative research question or
hypothesis
❖ At least one qualitative research question
❖ Generally, at least one mixed methods question
including phrases like synergistic, integration,
connection, comprehensive, fuller understanding, and
better understanding. www.knust.edu.gh
 ILLUSTRATION
A mixed methods study of college students’
Study attitudes regarding gender roles (combining
survey research and in-depth interviews)

Quantitative Male undergraduates have more traditional

Hypothesis attitudes about gender roles than female
undergraduates
Qualitative How do male and female undergraduates
Question describe their views on gender roles?
How did the combination of survey
Mixed research and in-depth interviews provide a
Methods more comprehensive understanding of
Question male and female college students’ attitudes
www.knust.edu.gh

about gender roles?

 Convergent
parallel
design
Explanatory
Multiphase
sequential
design
design

Types of mixed
methods designs

Exploratory
Transformative
sequential
design
design

Embedded
design www.knust.edu.gh
 Convergent
Parallel Design

It involves collecting collect both quantitative and qualitative

data simultaneously, merging the data, and using the results
to understand a research problem

Quantitative
Data Collection
and Analysis
Compare
Interpretation
or Relate
Qualitative
Data Collection
and Analysis www.knust.edu.gh
 • The researcher often gives equal priority to both
quantitative and qualitative data
1
• The researcher collects both the quantitative and
qualitative data concurrently or simultaneously
2 during the study

• The researcher compares the results from

quantitative and qualitative analyses to
3 determine if the two databases yield similar or
dissimilar results

Key characteristics of
www.knust.edu.gh
Convergent Parallel Design
 Identified qualitative
The most popular The quantitative themes during interviews
approach; done in a results and the are “quantified” and
discussion section qualitative themes given scores as to their
of a study; researcher for each major topic frequency such that they
presents the statistical are arranged in could compare with
results and quotes are columns such that scores from instruments
provided to either they match each measuring variables on
confirm or disconfirm other. the same issues

Merge in a
single table
Compare Transform one
results dataset
side-by-side
How to www.knust.edu.gh
Compare
 Explanatory
Sequential Design

❑ It involves, collecting quantitative data first and then

collecting qualitative data to help explain or elaborate
on the quantitative results.
❑ Whilst the quantitative data and results provide a
general picture of the research problem; more analysis,
specifically through qualitative data collection, is
needed to refine, extend, or explain the general
picture.

Quantitative Qualitative
Data Follow- Data
Interpretation
Collection up with Collection www.knust.edu.gh

and Analysis and Analysis

 Key characteristics of
Explanatory Sequential Design

The researcher places a priority on quantitative

1 data (QUAN) collection and analysis

The researcher collects quantitative data first in

2 the sequence, followed by the secondary
qualitative data collection

The researcher uses the qualitative data to refine

3 the results from the quantitative data.
www.knust.edu.gh
 Exploratory
Sequential Design
❖ It involves the procedure of first gathering qualitative data
to explore a phenomenon, and then collecting
quantitative data to explain relationships found in the
qualitative data.

❖ Application: to exploring a phenomenon, identifying

themes, designing an instrument, and subsequently
testing it.

Qualitative Quantitative
Data Builds Data
Interpretation
Collection to Collection www.knust.edu.gh
and Analysis and Analysis
 Emphasis is on the
qualitative data
(QUAL) more than
the quantitative data
(quan)

Key
characteristics
of Exploratory
Sequential
Design
Quantitative data Data collection:-
is planned to build qualitative data is
on or explain the first collected
initial qualitative followed by
www.knust.edu.gh
findings quantitative data
 Embedded Design

In this design, quantitative and qualitative data are collected

simultaneously or sequentially, with one form of data play a
supportive role to the other form of data

Qualitative (or Quantitative) Design

Qualitative (or Quantitative)
Data Collection and Analysis
Interpretation
Qualitative (or Quantitative)
Data Collection and Analysis
(before, during, or after) www.knust.edu.gh
Key characteristics of
EMBEDDED Design

Researcher gives priority to the major form of data

collection (e.g., often QUAN) and secondary status to the
1 supportive form (e.g., often qual) of data collection,
providing additional information to the primary form.

2 Researcher collects both the quantitative and qualitative

data simultaneously or sequentially.

Researcher uses the secondary form of data to augment

or provide additional sources of information not provided
3 by the primary source of data; addresses a different
www.knust.edu.gh
question than asked for by the primary form of data..
Thank You
www.knust.edu.gh