General Structure and Writing Style

The function of a research design is to ensure that the evidence obtained enables you to
effectively address the research problem as unambiguously as possible. In social
sciences research, obtaining evidence relevant to the research problem generally entails
specifying the type of evidence needed to test a theory, to evaluate a program, or to
accurately describe a phenomenon. However, researchers can often begin their
investigations far too early, before they have thought critically about what information is
required to answer the study's research questions. Without attending to these design
issues beforehand, the conclusions drawn risk being weak and unconvincing and,
consequently, will fail to adequate address the overall research problem.
Given this, the length and complexity of research designs can vary considerably, but any
sound design will do the following things:

1. Identify the research problem clearly and justify its selection,

2. Review previously published literature associated with the problem area,
3. Clearly and explicitly specify hypotheses [i.e., research questions] central to the
problem selected,
4. Effectively describe the data which will be necessary for an adequate test of the
hypotheses and explain how such data will be obtained, and
5. Describe the methods of analysis which will be applied to the data in determining
whether or not the hypotheses are true or false.

Case Study Design

Definition and Purpose
A case study is an in-depth study of a particular research problem rather than a sweeping
statistical survey. 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 a phenomenon.
What do these studies tell you?

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 vaiety 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 extension of methods.
5. The design can provide detailed descriptions of specific and rare cases.
What these studies don't tell you?

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. The intense exposure to study of the 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.
6. If the criteria for selecting a case is because it represents a very unusual or unique
phenomenon or problem for study, then your interpretation of the findings can only
apply to that particular case.

Cross-Sectional Design
Definition and Purpose
Cross-sectional research designs have three distinctive features: no time dimension, a
reliance on existing differences rather than change following intervention; and, groups are
selected based on existing differences rather than random allocation. The cross-sectional
design can only measure differences between or from among a variety of people,
subjects, or phenomena rather than change. As such, researchers using this design can
only employ a relative passive approach to making causal inferences based on findings.
What do these studies tell you?

1. Cross-sectional studies provide a 'snapshot' of the outcome and the characteristics

associated with it, at a specific point in time.
2. Unlike the experimental design where there is an active intervention by the
researcher to produce and measure change or to create differences, cross-
sectional designs focus on studying and drawing inferences from existing
differences between people, subjects, or phenomena.
3. Entails collecting data at and concerning one point in time. While longitudinal
studies involve taking multiple measures over an extended period of time, cross-
sectional research is focused on finding relationships between variables at one
moment in time.
4. Groups identified for study are purposely selected based upon existing differences
in the sample rather than seeking random sampling.
5. Cross-section studies are capable of using data from a large number of subjects
and, unlike observational studies, is not geographically bound.
 6. Can estimate prevalence of an outcome of interest because the sample is usually
taken from the whole population.
7. Because cross-sectional designs generally use survey techniques to gather data,
they are relatively inexpensive and take up little time to conduct.

What these studies don't tell you?

1. Finding people, subjects, or phenomena to study that are very similar except in
one specific variable can be difficult.
2. Results are static and time bound and, therefore, gives no indication of a sequence
of events or reveal historical contexts.
3. Studies cannot be utilized to establish cause and effect relationships.
4. Provide only a snapshot of analysis so there is always the possibility that a study
could have differing results if another time-frame had been chosen.
5. There is no follow up to the findings.

Descriptive Design
Definition and Purpose
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 ascertain 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.
What do these studies tell you?

1. The subject is being observed in a completely natural and unchanged natural

environment. True experiments, whilst giving analyzable data, often adversely
influence the normal behavior of the subject.
2. Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor to more quantitatively research
designs, 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.
5. Approach collects a large amount of data for detailed analysis.

What these studies don't tell you?

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.

Experimental Design
Definition and Purpose
A blueprint of the procedure that enables the researcher to maintain control over all
factors that may affect the result of an experiment. In doing this, the researcher attempts
to determine or predict what may occur. Experimental Research is often used where there
is time priority in a causal relationship (cause precedes effect), there is consistency in a
causal relationship (a cause will always lead to the same effect), and the magnitude of
the correlation is great. 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.
What do these studies tell you?

1. Experimental research allows the researcher to control the situation. In so doing,

it allows researchers to answer the question, “what causes something to occur?”
2. Permits the researcher to identify cause and effect relationships between variables
and to distinguish placebo effects from treatment effects.
3. Experimental research designs support the ability to limit alternative explanations
and to infer direct causal relationships in the study.
4. Approach provides the highest level of evidence for single studies.

What these studies don't tell you?

1. The design is artificial, and results may not generalize well to the real world.
2. The artificial settings of experiments may alter subject behaviors or responses.
3. Experimental designs can be costly if special equipment or facilities are needed.
4. Some research problems cannot be studied using an experiment because of
ethical or technical reasons.
5. Difficult to apply ethnographic and other qualitative methods to experimental
designed research studies.
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. The focus is on gaining insights and familiarity for later
investigation or undertaken when problems are in a preliminary stage of investigation.
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 assumption, 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.

What do these studies tell you?

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. Exploratory studies help establish research priorities.

What these studies don't tell you?

1. Exploratory research generally utilizes small sample sizes and, thus, findings are
typically not generalizable to the population at large.
2. The exploratory nature of the research inhibits an ability to make definitive
conclusions about the findings.
3. The research process underpinning exploratory studies is flexible but often
unstructured, leading to only tentative results that have limited value in decision-
making.
4. Design lacks rigorous standards applied to methods of data gathering and analysis
because one of the areas for exploration could be to determine what method or
methodologies could best fit the research problem.
Longitudinal Design
Definition and Purpose
A longitudinal study follows the same sample over time and makes repeated
observations. With longitudinal surveys, for example, the same group of people is
interviewed at regular intervals, enabling researchers to track changes over time and to
relate them to variables that might explain why the changes occur. Longitudinal research
designs describe patterns of change and help establish the direction and magnitude of
causal relationships. Measurements are taken on each variable over two or more distinct
time periods. This allows the researcher to measure change in variables over time. It is a
type of observational study and is sometimes referred to as a panel study.
What do these studies tell you?

1. Longitudinal data allow the analysis of duration of a particular phenomenon.

2. Enables survey researchers to get close to the kinds of causal explanations usually
attainable only with experiments.
3. The design permits the measurement of differences or change in a variable from
one period to another [i.e., the description of patterns of change over time].
4. Longitudinal studies facilitate the prediction of future outcomes based upon earlier
factors.

What these studies don't tell you?

1. The data collection method may change over time.

2. Maintaining the integrity of the original sample can be difficult over an extended
period of time.
3. It can be difficult to show more than one variable at a time.
4. This design often needs qualitative research to explain fluctuations in the data.
5. A longitudinal research design assumes present trends will continue unchanged.
6. It can take a long period of time to gather results.
7. There is a need to have a large sample size and accurate sampling to reach
representativeness.