Dba Module 5 Research Design2
Dba Module 5 Research Design2
Dba Module 5 Research Design2
RESEARCH AND
REPORTING
MODULE 5
LECTURER: Prof E Matiku
(PhD)
SELECTING A RESEARCH
DESIGN
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this Module, students should be
able to:
Know the meaning of a research design
Understand the features of research design
Understand the importance of a research
design
Understand the different types of research
designs and their uses
Appreciate the use of case study design
SELECTING A RESEARCH DESIGN
4. Selecting a 9. Writing a
Research Research
3. Reviewing
Design Report
Literature
STAGE 1: Identifying a research problem
The researcher has selected the research
problem and is clear about what needs to be
investigated in terms of:
The background/history of the research
problem.
The statement of the research problem.
STAGE 2: Determining research objectives
The researcher has determined:
The general objective of the study.
The specific objectives of the study.
The research questions to be answered.
STAGE 3: Review of Relevant Literature
In this stage, the researcher has carried out a review of
the relevant literature in terms of:
Defining relevant concepts and terms:
Example: What is meant by school drop out?
The general factors influencing the existence of your
identified research problem. Example: What does the
literature say generally about the possible causes of
school drop out among girls?
The current research (empirical studies) related to your
study. Example: What similar studies have been done by
other researchers on the problem?
STAGE 4: The Research Design
After completing stage 1, 2 and 3, you find yourself
confronted with the following questions:
Given my research problem to be investigated:
What data will be required to meet the objectives
of the study?
How will the data be collected?
Where will the data be collected
What will be the unit of inquiry?
What will be the time and cost of collecting the
data?
How will the data be analysed?
WHAT IS A RESEARCH DESIGN?
When considering the above questions and
deciding how to address them, you are
dealing with what is known as the research
design.
Definitions:
Design is the process of intentionally creating
something while simultaneously considering
its objective (purpose), function and cost-
benefits.
Creswell and Plano Clark (2007, p. 58) define a
research design as the 'procedures for
collecting, analyzing, interpreting and
reporting data in research studies‘.
It is the overall plan in which the researcher
makes decisions on various procedures to be
applied in carrying out data collection and
data analysis to realize the general and
specific objectives of the research study.
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
There are basically six methods of data collection
namely:
Interview
Questionnaire
Direct observation
Case study
Documentary review
Focus group discussions
When you decide on and select the
method/procedure you are going to use to
carry to collect data for a particular study,
then your selected method or procedure is
your research design.
It is important to note that different categories
of research employ different methods of data
collection.
This means, there are different research
designs for different research categories.
The method or design to be selected by the
researcher for data collection will always
depend on the purpose of the research.
Given the research purpose, a research design,
therefore, involves decisions about:
What data to be collected
How much data to be collected
Where is the data to be collected
How will data be collected.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESEARCH
In module 1 of this course, we identified
different types or categories of research as
shown below:
RESEARCH CATEGORIES
AIM/INTENTION/PURPOSE TYPE OF RESEARCH
1. To develop and expand Pure/Basic/Fundamental
scientific knowledge and Research
understanding
2. To solve a practical problem Applied Research
3. To identify characteristics, Descriptive Research
patterns and correlations
4. To test causal relationships Experimental Research
between existing variables?
5. To understanding the current Cross-sectional Research
situation (e.g. Covid-19)
In each of the above research categories, a
different plan or procedure may be applied
for data collection.
For example, the methods and procedures used
to collect data in exploratory research are
different from those applied in descriptive
research etc.
For instance, the purpose of a descriptive study is to
provide a picture or characteristics of a situation,
person or event or show how things are related
to each other.
However, descriptive studies cannot explain why an
event has occurred or why a particular situation
exists.
A different category of research called cross-
sectional research or exploratory research is
required to accomplish this objective.
Exploratory research is conducted when
enough is not known about a certain
problem.
Therefore, different procedures will be applied
between descriptive and exploratory research
categories.
For example, the main method or procedure
applied in descriptive research is Observation,
while in exploratory research it is Survey.
Need for Research Design
For better, economical and attractive
construction of a house, we need a
blueprint (or what is called the map of the
house)
Therefore, a research design is necessary
because it makes possible the smooth
carrying out of the research using the various
research procedures.
Research design stands for advance
planning of the methods to be adopted
for collecting the relevant data and the
techniques to be used in data analysis,
keeping in view the objective of the research.
The research design helps the investigator to
organize his/her ideas in a manner that will
make it possible for him/her to identify errors
and shortages and how to avoid them.
Importance of A Research Design
A well selected research design is important to you
because it:
helps you to prepare yourself to carry out research
in a proper and systematic way.
ensures that requisite data is collected accurately
and economically in accordance with the problem
at hand .
leads to better documentation of the various
activities while the research work is going on.
guides you in the right direction
minimizes wastage of your research time;
FEATURES OF A GOOD RESEARCH DESIGN
From the definition and what has been stated above, we
can state the important features of a research design as
follows: It is a plan that:
specifies the sources and types of information relevant
to the research problem.
specifies which approach, method or procedure will be
used for gathering and analysing the data.
indicates the area where the research will take place
shows the population to be studied and the size of
sample
includes the time and cost budgets for the study.
FEATURES OF A GOOD RESEARCH DESIGN ..
Research design should be in line with:
the focus of the research which may be
either:
conditions to be investigated: e.g. the
current status of the labour market or,
orientation: e.g. what people believe in or
their attitudes or behaviour or
actions: e.g. how people travel in rural
areas.
problem to be investigated.
unity of analysis: households, group of
people, individual, schools etc
the time dimension of the problem to be
investigated
MAJOR CATEGORIES OF RESEARCH
DESIGNS
Depending on the purpose of the research,
research design falls under the following
three major categories of designs as follows:
Operational design
Sampling design
Statistical design
1) Operational design:
This concerns the overall method to be used by the
researcher for field study.
Let us assume that the researcher has completed
his/her literature review and is now read to go to
the field for data collection.
Before he/she starts his/her fieldwork to collect
data, he/she is required to select an overall
method that will make it easy for his/her to
organize and complete his/her objective.
This overall method is called Operational design.
Under operational design, there are several methods,
branches or sub-designs from which the researcher
can choose from, depending on the purpose of
his/her research. These are:
case study design,
survey design,
experimental design.
Case Study Design
A case study design or plan is an in depth study of a
particular situation or organization within its real-
life context.
Under this method you can take one single social
unit (e.g. a business organization) or a situation
and study it comprehensively and in minute
details.
The purpose of the case study design is to locate the
factors that account for the behaviour-patterns of
the given business organization.
Basic Tools For Data Collection In Case Study
Design
Case study research typically employs
multiple data collection
techniques and data are collected from multiple
sources. Data collection techniques include:
interviews,
observations (direct and participant),
questionnaires, and
relevant documents
Advantages Of Using Case Study Design
There are several advantages of the case study
method/design as follows:
It is an exhaustive study and hence, the case
study method enables us to understand fully
the behaviour pattern of the concerned
organization.
It enables the researcher to obtain a real and
enlightened record of personal experiences in
organizations, which would reveal man’s inner
conflicts, tensions and motivations that drive him to
action along with the forces that direct him to
adopt a certain pattern of behaviour.
It enables the researcher to trace out the
natural history of the organization and its
relationship with the social factors and the
forces involved in its surrounding
environment.
It enables the researcher to use the methods
of data collection effectively.
It enables the researcher to generalize results
of the finding. This is on assumption of
uniformity in the basic human nature in spite
of the fact that human behaviour may vary
according to situations
Limitations Of Case Study Design
Case study design/method has several
disadvantages as follows:
It consumes more time and requires lot of
expenditure. More time is needed under case
study method since one studies the
organization in great details.
The danger of false generalisation always
exists because no set rules or principles are
followed in collection of the information and
only few units are studied.
Survey Design
Survey research design is a procedure or
method applied research whereby the
researcher conducts a survey to a sample or
to the entire population of people to
describe the attitudes, opinions, behaviors,
or characteristics of the population.
Basic Tools For Data Collection In Survey
Design