Research Design

Overview

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This lecture aims to provide an insight into -

• The major layers in the design of a research method

• Inductive vs. Deductive research approaches

• Research strategies

• Data collection methods

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Research methods should be:

1. Designed in order to meet your research objectives

2. Structured so that it is clear which research activities you have done to meet each objective set

3. Justification, Justification, Justification

4. Detailed enough so that anyone could conduct your research without you being present

Research Design

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Research Approach - Inductive, Deductive

Research Strategy/Methods - Survey, Interview etc.

Data Collection - Sampling, recording methods

Major Research Design Layers

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• Also known as ‘theory testing’

• Highly scientific approach – used in sciences

• Experiment procedures

• High degree of structure

• Hypothesis testing – testing a relationship between two variables

Research Approach – Deduction

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• Trying to prove or disprove a relationship between

two variables

• Data collection is quantitative in nature

• Highly structured method needed

• Statistical analysis required – T-Test – proving a relationship

Deduction

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Hypotheses allow us to test a ‘claim’

An increase in spending on radio advertising will increase sales

Suggestive selling can increase in restaurant sales at Little Chef

Changing the ‘send out’ time of an email marketing campaign will increase the ‘click through rates’

Hypotheses

Hypotheses Testing

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Devise a hypothesis or claim based on your understanding of the context of an organisation or from literature and past research

Devise an experiment which tests the hypothesis

Analyse the results of the experiments to accept or reject the hypothesis

Hypothesis Testing is trying to test a relationship

Not generally used to understand ‘why’ type questions

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Approach used to understand ‘why’ something is occurring

For example:

Why does the time in which an email marketing campaign is sent out effect ‘click through rates’?

Trying to conceptualise the reasons for a trend that has been spotted or proven

Induction is also know as ‘theory building’ – understanding why and creating a theory of how it works

Research Approach - Induction

Induction

• Focus is on gaining an understanding and meaning

• Answers the ‘why’ type questions

• Data collected is qualitative – interviews, observation

• Less concerned with generalisability

• Flexible approach which can be designed in a way which suits the research setting

Pause

Spend ten minutes considering if your project follows more of an inductive or deductive approach.

Pause the recording while you do this.

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Research Design Layers

• *Research Approach – Inductive, Deductive

*Research Strategy/Methods – Survey, Interview etc.

• *Data Collection – Sampling, recording methods

Research Strategy/Methods

• Experiments

• Surveys

• Case Study

• Ethnography

• Action Research

Experiments

• Linked to the deductive approach

• Define a hypothesis:“There is a positive relationship between the higher the university fees paid and the degree results”

• Need to collect and analysis the data – T Testing

• Prove or disprove your devised hypothesis and discuss the possible reasons why

Surveys• Used the deductive and inductive approaches

• Allow the collection of a large amount of data or ‘rich’ data

e.g. questionnaire vs. interviews

• Used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data

• Use packages such as survey monkey

• Can be time consuming

Case Study

• Develop a detailed and intensive understanding or knowledge of a single case

• Or a small number of cases

• Used to understand particular contexts

• e.g. What went wrong at Blockbuster?

• Interviews and questionnaires useful here

• Inductive approach

• Attempting to interpret the social world of certain context

• Trying to understand the perspective of a group of individuals by spending time with them

• Tends to use observational methods

Ethnography

Action Research

• Permits the researcher to take an interactive role

• Researcher takes part in a research setting

• Research observes the action of others as well as the action of themselves

• Research reflects on observation and plans to take action in the research setting to help improve or resolve issues

Action Research

Pause

Spend ten minutes deciding on which research methods would best suit your research problem/opportunity/issue.

Why are the methods you have chosen appropriate?

Pause the recording while you do this.

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Research Design Layers

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•Research Approach – Inductive, Deductive

Research Strategy/Methods – Survey, Interview etc.

*Data Collection – Sampling, recording methods

Data Collection

• Who are you going to collect the data from?

• How are you going to collect the data?

• Questionnaire design

• Interview recording

• Journal entries

• Filming

• Always justify your decisions

Pause

Spend ten minutes deciding on how you are going to record the data for the research methods you have chosen

Pause the recording while you do this.

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End of presentation

© Pearson College 2013