Research Design

Research Design
A research design is the “blue print” of the study. It
guides the collection, measurement and analysis of data
(Cooper and Schindler, 2001). It is a plan or course of
action which the research follows in order to answer
the research question/s or solve the research problem
(Sanchez, et. al., 1966). The design becomes the basis
for determining what data will be collected, and how
they will be analyzed and interpreted.
 Cont.…
 A good research design has the characteristics, viz., problem
definition, specific methods of data collection and analysis, time
required for research project and estimates of expenses to be
incurred.

 Basically, a research deign is purely and simply the frame work or

plan for a study that guides the collection and analysis of the data.

 A research design will typically include how data is to be collected,

what instruments will be employed how the instruments will be used
and the intended means for analyzing data collected.
 According to (Burns and Grove): “a blueprint for performing a study
with maximum control over factors which could interfere with the
validity of the findings”.

 Parahoo: “a plan which explains how, when and where data are to
be collected and analyzed”.

 According to (Polit et. al.): “the researcher’s overall for answering

the research question or testing the research hypothesis”.
 A good research requires a good design. The use of an appropriate
design minimizes the occurrence of error in the conduct of the
study and in the conclusions drawn from the study.

 Before the research is implemented, the researcher must already

be able to determine the research design he/she intends to use.
Will he/she use an experimental design or a non- experimental
design?

 A wrong choice of a design puts at risk the validity and the

reliability of the study. When this happens, it is quite difficult to
find the real answer to a research question, because there could
be some rival hypotheses that can explain the occurrence of a
problem. The selection of an appropriate study design can
minimize possible errors by maximizing reliability and validity of
the data.
 The research design, depending upon the needs of the researcher
may be a very detailed statement or only furnish the minimum
information required for planning the research project.

To be effective, a research design should furnish at least the following

details.

 A statement of objectives of the study or the research output.

 A statement of the data inputs required on the basis of which the
research problem is to be solved.
 The methods of analysis which shall be used to treat and analyze
the data inputs.
More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect
of:

 What is the study about?

 Why is the study being made?
 Where will the study be carried out?
 What type of data is required?
 Where can the required data be found?
 What periods of time will the study include?
 What will be the sample design?
 What techniques of data collection will be used?
 How will the data be analyzed?
 In what style will the report be prepared?
Advantages of research design

 Consumes less time.

 Ensures project time schedule.
 Helps researcher to prepare himself to carry out research in a
proper and a systematic way.
 Better documentation of the various activities while the
project work is going on.
 Helps in proper planning of the resources and their
procurement in right time.
 Provides satisfaction and confidence, accompanied with a
sense of success from the beginning of the work of the
research project.
Need for Research Design

 Research design is needed because it facilitates the smooth sailing

of the various research operations, thereby making research as
efficient as possible yielding maximal information with minimal
expenditure of effort, time and money.

 Research design has a significant impact on the reliability of the

results obtained. It thus acts as a firm foundation for the entire
research.
 For example, economical and attractive construction of house we need a
blueprint (or what is commonly called the map of the house) well thought out
and prepared by an expert architect, similarly we need a research design or a
plan of data collection and analysis for our research project.

 Research design stands for planning of the methods to be adopted for

collecting the relevant data and the techniques to be used in their analysis.
The need for research design is as follows:
 It reduces inaccuracy;
 Helps to get maximum efficiency and reliability;
 Eliminates bias and marginal errors;
 Minimizes wastage of time;
 Helpful for collecting research materials;
 Helpful for testing of hypothesis;
 Gives an idea regarding the type of resources required in terms of money,
manpower, time, and efforts;
 Provides an overview to other experts;
 Guides the research in the right direction.
Types of Research Designs
 The research design is a broad framework that describes how the
entire research project is carried out. Basically, there can be three
types of research designs: exploratory research design, descriptive
research design, and experimental (or causal) research design. Use
of research design depends upon type of problem under study.
Types of Research Designs
Exploratory Research
 Exploratory research is conducted to explore a group of
questions. The answers and analytics may not offer a final
conclusion to the perceived problem. It is conducted to handle
new problem areas which haven’t been explored before. This
exploratory process lays the foundation for more conclusive
research and data collection.

 All marketing research projects must start with exploratory

research. This is a preliminary phase and is essential in order to
obtain a proper definition of problem at hand. The major
emphasis is on the discovery of ideas and insights. To discover
ideas and insights to generate possible explanations. It helps in
exploring the problem or situation. It is, particularly, emphasized
to break a broad vague problem statement into smaller pieces or
sub-problem statements that help forming specific hypothesis.
 The hypothesis is a conjectural (imaginary, speculative, or abstract)
statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
Naturally, in initial state of the study, we lack sufficient understanding
about problem to formulate a specific hypothesis. Similarly, we have
several competitive explanations of marketing phenomenon. Exploratory
research design is used to establish priorities among those competitive
explanations.

 The exploratory research design is used to increase familiarity of the

analyst with problem under investigation. This is particularly true when
researcher is new in area, or when problem is of different type.

This design is followed to realize following purposes:

 Clarifying concepts and defining problem
 Formulating problem for more precise investigation
 Increasing researcher’s familiarity with problem
 Developing hypotheses
 Establishing priorities for further investigation
Exploratory research design is characterized by flexibility to gain
insights and develop hypotheses. It does not follow a planned
questionnaire or sampling. It is based on literature survey,
experimental survey, and analysis of selected cases.
Unstructured interviews are used to offer respondents a great
deal of freedom. No research project is purely and solely based
on this design. It is used as complementary to descriptive
design and causal design.
 Descriptive research
A researcher is solely interested in describing the situation
or case under their research study. It is a theory-based
design method which is created by gathering, analyzing,
and presenting collected data. This allows a researcher to
provide insights into the why and how of research.
Descriptive design helps others better understand the
need for the research. If the problem statement is not
clear, you can conduct exploratory research. 
 Descriptive research design is typically concerned with
describing problem and its solution. It is more specific and
purposive study. Before rigorous attempts are made for
descriptive study, the well-defined problem must be on
hand. Descriptive study rests on one or more hypotheses.
For example, “our brand is not much familiar,” “sales volume is
stable,” etc. It is more precise and specific. Unlike exploratory
research, it is not flexible. Descriptive research requires clear
specification of who, why, what, when, where, and how of the
research. Descriptive design is directed to answer these problems.
Exploratory research is primarily used to define research problems
whereas the descriptive experimental researches are used to find
solutions to them .
 Causal or Experimental Research Design
 Causal research design deals with determining cause and effect
relationship. It is typically in form of experiment. In causal research
design, attempt is made to measure impact of manipulation on
independent variables (like price, products, advertising and selling
efforts or marketing strategies in general) on dependent variables (like
sales volume, profits, and brand image and brand loyalty). It has more
practical value in resolving marketing problems. We can set and test
hypotheses by conducting experiments.

 Test marketing is the most suitable example of experimental

marketing in which the independent variable like price, product,
promotional efforts, etc., are manipulated (changed) to measure its
impact on the dependent variables, such as sales, profits, brand
loyalty, competitive strengths product differentiation and so on.
Causal or Experimental Research Design
  Experimental research design 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 a highly practical research design method as it
contributes to solving a problem at hand.

 The independent variables are manipulated to monitor the change it

has on the dependent variable. It is often used in social sciences to
observe human behavior by analyzing two groups. Researchers can
have participants change their actions and study how the people
around them react to gain a better understanding of social psychology.