Types of Research Design

• Exploratory Research Design
• Descriptive research Design
• Experimental research Design
• Action Research Design
• Case Study Research Design

1. Exploratory Design:

Definition and Purpose

An exploratory design is conducted about a research problem when there are few or no earlier studies to refer to or rely upon to predict an outcome. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later investigation or undertaken when research problems are in a preliminary stage of investigation. Exploratory designs are often used to establish an understanding of how best to proceed in studying an issue or what methodology would effectively apply to gathering information about the issue.

Exploratory design also known as Formulate studies.

Katz has conceptualized exploratory studies at two levels:

The First is the discovery of the significant variable in the situation.

The Second  is the discovery of relationship between variables.

The goals of exploratory research are intended to produce the following possible insights:

• Familiarity with basic details, settings, and concerns.
• Well grounded picture of the situation being developed.
• Generation of new ideas and assumptions.
• Development of tentative theories or hypotheses.
• Determination about whether a study is feasible in the future.
• Issues get refined for more systematic investigation and formulation of new research questions.
• Direction for future research and techniques get developed.

Advantages

1. Design is a useful approach for gaining background information on a particular topic.
2. Exploratory research is flexible and can address research questions of all types (what, why, how).
3. Provides an opportunity to define new terms and clarify existing concepts.
4. Exploratory research is often used to generate formal hypotheses and develop more precise research problems.
5. In the policy arena or applied to practice, exploratory studies help establish research priorities and where resources should be allocated.

Disadvantages

1. Exploratory research generally utilizes small sample sizes and, thus, findings are typically not generalizable to the population at large.
2. They provide insight but not definitive conclusions.
3. The exploratory studies is flexible but often unstructured, leading to only tentative results that have limited value to decision-makers.

2. Descriptive Design

Definition and Purpose

Descriptive research design is a scientific method which involves observing and describing the behavior of a subject without influencing it in any way.

Descriptive research designs help provide answers to the questions of who, what, when, where, and how associated with a particular research problem; a descriptive study cannot conclusively (Hatmi)ascertain(taeyun) answers to why. Descriptive research is used to obtain information concerning the current status of the phenomena and to describe “what exists” with respect to variables or conditions in a situation.

Many scientific disciplines, especially social sciences and psychology, use this method to obtain a general overview of the subject.

Advantages

1. The subject is being observed in a completely natural and unchanged natural environment.
2. Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor (paishgi) to more quantitative research designs with the general overview giving some valuable pointers as to what variables are worth testing quantitatively.
3. If the limitations are understood, they can be a useful tool in developing a more focused study.
4. Descriptive studies can yield rich data that lead to important recommendations in practice.
5. Approach collects a large amount of data for detailed analysis.

Disadvantages

1. The results from a descriptive research cannot be used to discover a definitive answer or to disprove a hypothesis.
2. Because descriptive designs often utilize observational methods [as opposed to quantitative methods], the results cannot be replicated.
3. The descriptive function of research is heavily dependent on instrumentation for measurement and observation.

When to use Descriptive Design?

• When the research aim is to identify the characteristics, frequencies, trends, correlations and categories.
• When not much is known yet about the topic or problem. Before you can research why something happens, you need to understand how, when and where it happens.

3. Experimental Design

Definition and Purpose

An experiment is a type of research method in which you manipulate one or more independent variables and measure their effect on one or more dependent variables.

Experimental design means creating a set of procedures to test a hypothesis.

A good experimental design requires a strong understanding of the system you are studying.

The classic experimental design specifies an experimental group and a control group. The independent variable is administered to the experimental group and not to the control group, and both groups are measured on the same dependent variable. Subsequent experimental designs have used more groups and more measurements over longer periods. True experiments must have control, randomization, and manipulation.

Advantages

1. It is the only form of research that can establish cause and effect.
2. Experiments allows the researcher precise control over variables.
3. Approach provides the highest level of evidence for single studies.

Disadvantages

1. The design is artificial, and results may not generalize well to the real world.
2. The artificial settings of experiments may alter the behaviors or responses of participants.
3. Experimental designs can be costly if special equipment or facilities are needed.
4. Some experiments cannot be conducted due to ethical concerns.

When to Use Experimental Design?

• When you want to establish possible cause and effect between your dependent and independent variables.

4. Action Research Design

Definition and Purpose

The essentials of action research design follow a characteristic cycle whereby initially an exploratory stance is adopted, where an understanding of a problem is developed and plans are made for some form of inter ventionary strategy. Then the intervention is carried out [the “action” in action research] during which time, pertinent observations are collected in various forms. The new interventional strategies are carried out, and this cyclic process repeats, continuing until a sufficient understanding of [or a valid implementation solution for] the problem is achieved. The protocol is iterative or cyclical in nature and is intended to foster deeper understanding of a given situation, starting with conceptualizing and particularizing the problem and moving through several interventions and evaluations.

What do these studies tell you?

1. This is a collaborative and adaptive research design that lends itself to use in work or community situations.
2. Design focuses on pragmatic and solution-driven research outcomes rather than testing theories.
3. When practitioners use action research, it has the potential to increase the amount they learn consciously from their experience; the action research cycle can be regarded as a learning cycle.
4. Action research studies often have direct and obvious relevance to improving practice and advocating for change.
5. There are no hidden controls or preemption of direction by the researcher.

What these studies don’t tell you?

1. It is harder to do than conducting conventional research because the researcher takes on responsibilities of advocating for change as well as for researching the topic.
2. Action research is much harder to write up because it is less likely that you can use a standard format to report your findings effectively [i.e., data is often in the form of stories or observation].
3. Personal over-involvement of the researcher may bias research results.
4. The cyclic nature of action research to achieve its twin outcomes of action [e.g. change] and research [e.g. understanding] is time-consuming and complex to conduct.
5. Advocating for change usually requires buy-in from study participants.

5. Case Study Design

Definition and Purpose

A case study is an in-depth study of a particular research problem rather than a statistical survey or comprehensive comparative inquiry. It is often used to narrow down a very broad field of research into one or a few easily researchable examples. The case study research design is also useful for testing whether a specific theory and model actually applies to phenomena in the real world. It is a useful design when not much is known about an issue or phenomenon.

Advantages:

1. Approach excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue through detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their relationships.
2. A researcher using a case study design can apply a variety of methodologies and rely on a variety of sources to investigate a research problem.
3. Design can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research.
4. Social scientists, in particular, make wide use of this research design to examine contemporary real-life situations and provide the basis for the application of concepts and theories and the extension of methodologies.
5. The design can provide detailed descriptions of specific and rare cases.

Disadvantages:

1. A single or small number of cases offers little basis for establishing reliability or to generalize the findings to a wider population of people, places, or things.
2. Intense exposure to the study of a case may bias a researcher’s interpretation of the findings.
3. Design does not facilitate assessment of cause and effect relationships.
4. Vital information may be missing, making the case hard to interpret.
5. The case may not be representative or typical of the larger problem being investigated.

When to Use?

• When you want an in-depth insight about a particular issue or problem.
• When you want to study the interesting and unique cases.