EDNA ADAN UNIVERSITY

MEDICAL COLLEGE
ACADEMIC YEAR 2021-2022
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Instructor
Mohamed Abdi Indha Yare
Emali: labaale201@gmail.com
Tell: +252634471540
 Correlational Research Design
Introduction
 Correlational studies are typical associational studies that determine whether, and to
what extent an association exists between two or more paired and quantifiable variables.
 Correlational studies establish relationships (or lack of them) and use such relationships to make
predictions between two or more characteristics from the same group.
 a correlation research design involves collecting data on two or more quantifiable variables from the same
group and then computing a correlation coefficient (Ґ). Correlational studies describe the (i) direction, (ii)
nature and (iii) strength of an association between two or more variables.
 The direction of the relationship in a correlational design is indicated by the sign of the correlation
coefficient (Ґ). It can be positive, negative or neutral.
 Types of Correlational Research Design

1. Simple Correlational Design: describes the association between just two

variables. However, there are other correlational designs that relate more than
two variables in a single study.
2. Partial correlation designs: describe associations between three quantifiable
variables. They measure the association between two variables after the effect
of a third variable has been removed (or partialed out).
3. Multiple correlational designs (R): describe the association between a
dependent variable and a combination of two or more independent variables
considered simultaneously.
 Cont..
4. Point bi-serial correlation designs investigate associations between two variables where one
variable is quantitative and the other is a-two-category qualitative variable.

5. Phi-Correlation designs: investigate associations between two dichotomous categorical

variables such as gender (male/female) and smoking (smoker/non-smoker).
 Exploratory Research Designs

Exploratory research designs are more of pilot studies, and are commonly
conducted when researchers have little knowledge of the variables of interest.
Exploratory studies employ several techniques, either singly or in a combination.
Exploratory studies could be:
 Literature review; involving secondary analysis of information already available
to focus the structure, process and relationship of the intended study to research
already done.
 Expert survey involving interviews with experts in the area of interest.
 Case study technique; a method of exploration that may take several forms
including experimentation.
 Qualitative Research Designs

qualitative research is more concerned with holistic descriptions of activities or

situations rather than wit comparing the effects of particular treatments (as in
experiments), or on describing the opinions or behaviour of a group of subjects (as
in survey).
Qualitative research designs are used when:
i. The concept being investigated is ‘immature’ due to conspicuous lack of relevant theories
and previous research.
ii. The available theories are inaccurate, inappropriate, incorrect or biased.
iii. There is need to explore and describe the phenomenon and develop a theory.
iv. The nature of the phenomenon is suited to qualitative measures.
 Qualitative Research Process
The following steps are generally identified in the qualitative research process:
1. Problem Identification. Before a study begins, a researcher must identify a particular
phenomenon of interest for investigating.
2. Identification of study participants or the samples of individuals who will be involved in the
study.
3. Data collection: Qualitative research does not manipulate variables. Participants in a
qualitative research are not divided into experimental and control groups, and neither is data
collected at the end an intervention.
4. Data Analysis: Analyzing qualitative data entails synthesizing the information obtained from
various sources into a coherent description of what has been observed or otherwise
discovered.
5. Conclusion: In qualitative research conclusions are drawn continuously throughout the study
 Common Qualitative Research Designs
Case Study Research Designs: Case studies are similar to survey studies except
they use relatively smaller samples and have greater depths.

Ethnography Research Designs:

Ethnography is the research design used to learn about what is actually happening as it is seen
and lived by a people rather than what would happen if some conditions were specified to a
group of people. Ethnographers study intact cultural groups in natural settings for long periods
by collecting primarily, observational data in order to learn about the culture of the people who
live in that culture.
 Cont…
Historical Research Design:

 This is the domain of historical research. Historical research is a systematic collection and
evaluation of data to understand, describe and explain past events.
 Historical research investigates the past by perusing documents of that period, examining
relics or by interviewing individuals who lived during those times.
 It embraces the entire range of human events, moving backwards using clues to reconstruct
scenes of the past in forms of integrated narratives.
 The Historical Research Process
1. Problem Identification: A historical research problem is identified and defined in the same
manner as other research problems.
2. Locating Data Sources; Once a problem has been identified, then a researcher has to locate
appropriate data sources.
3. Summarizing Information: The researcher should summarize the information obtained from
various sources into a coherent description of what has been observed or discovered.
4. Evaluation: All data must be evaluated to determine its value before it can be accepted as
research data.
 Phenomenology Research Designs

 Phenomenology research is based on the principle that people are active creators of their
world and that they have the consciousness that communicate to them every day experiences
and knowledge.
 Phenomenology involves studying a small number of subjects through extensive and
prolonged engagements to develop pattern and relationships of meaning
 Ground Theory Research Design

 Ground theory designs are research designs, which rather than prove theories, generate
theories that are ground in the empirical data from which they are generated.
 In Ground theory research, a theory is developed from the immediate collected data rather
than from prior research.
 Mixed methods research design is a methodology for conducting research that involves
collecting, analyzing and integrating quantitative (e.g., experiments, surveys) and qualitative
(e.g., focus groups, interviews) data.
 This approach to research is used when this integration provides a better understanding of the research problem
than either of each alone.