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Moazzam Ali Malik Introduction to Research Methodology

Research Design

Introduction

Creswell (2003, p. 13) uses the term strategy to explain design. He also uses the terms tradition,

method, approach, procedure, and process. Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (1990) say a research

design is “a description of the procedures to be followed in testing the hypothesis” (p. 110). For

Babbie (2004), research design “involves a set of decisions regarding what topic is to be studied

among what populations with what research designs for what purpose” (p. 112) Gay and

Airasian (2000) define research design as “a general strategy for conducting a research study” (p.

107), which describes the basic structure of the study. They explain that research design tells the

researcher which strategy to select, and includes the hypotheses, variables, and real world

constraints.

A research design can be defined as an operating model or blueprint for a research project, which

accounts for internal reasoning (causality) and external reasoning (generalizability). If the

introduction in a research paper raises the question to be investigated, the research design

contains directions to determine the answer. As a blueprint is to building a house, a research

design is to conducting a research project. The research design stipulates the parts of the research

project, how they are arranged, and how they function. However, the research design does not

determine the type of data, how the data are collected, or how they are analyzed any more than a

blueprint tells a house builder the color of the walls or what furniture will occupy its various

rooms.

Nature of Research Designs:

Research Designs can be of two types by nature i.e., a) Qualitative & b) Quantitative. Qualitative

and Quantitative researches differ in their nature and paradigm. Here, I will highlight some major

differences between Qualitative and Quantitative research and then I will briefly discuss the

different types of Qualitative and Quantitative research types and designs.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Qualitative Research Quantitative Research

• Qualitative research is conducted to have • Quantitative research involves the

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a better understanding of not only about

the current situation is but also why it is

so.

• It is much broader in scope than the

historical research

• It is more open and responsive to the

research participants

• It uses a variety of designs and data

collection strategies

• It is characterized as multi-method

• It offers opportunities for descriptive and

exploratory studies

• Its overall purpose is to explain and gain

insight and understanding of phenomena

through intensive collection of narrative

data

• It is inductive and process-oriented

collection of numerical data

• It also involves the description of data,

finding out the relationship among

quantifiable variables and inferring of

results.

• It depends on the statistical data analysis

• Its overall purpose is to explain, predict,

or /and control phenomena through

focused collection of numerical data.

• It is deductive, focussed and outcome-

oriented

The following part of the term-paper has been divided into three major sections. The first section

will introduce different types of research designs, whereas the second and the third sections have

been entitled as ‘Sampling’ and ‘Data Collection’ respectively. These last two sections are the

important components of many research designs.

Types of Research Designs

There are many research designs that are employed according to meet the needs of the research.

Some of the designs have been listed below according to their frequency use in SLA and Social

Sciences research.

1. Experimental

2. Survey

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3. Ethnographic

4. Correlational

5. Case Study

6. Action Research

7. Qualitative

8. Ex post facto

9. Descriptive

10. Introspection

11. Grounded Theory

12. Narrative

13. Historical

14. Evaluation

15. Causal-Comparative

16. Interactional analysis

17. Phenomenology

The following sections list Qualitative and Quantitative research designs; but one should be

mindful of the fact that these designs of research cannot be strictly compartmentalized as in quite

recently many researchers in social sciences have advocated the mixed-method approach.

Longitudinal and Cross-sectional research may involve both the Qualitative and Quantitative

approaches.

Qualitative Research Designs:

Following research designs, generally, involve Qualitative research paradigm to follow:

Naturalistic and Ethnographic Research Design:

In this type of research we highlight the focus of the study, identify the research problem and

conduct the data analysis to have an interpretation (Wolcott 1992:19). Ethnography is a style of

research rather than a single method and uses a variety of techniques to collect data. This style of

research can be defined as:

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the study of people in naturally occurring settings or ‘fields’ by means of methods

whichcapture their social meanings and ordinary activities, involving the

researcherparticipating directly in the setting, if not also the activities, in order to

collect data in asystematic manner but without meaning being imposed on them

externally (Brewer,2000: 10; for other explications of ethnography see: Atkinson

et al., 2001; Burgess,1984; Davies, 1999; Fetterman, 1998; Hammersley and

Atkinson, 1995).

The methods used must therefore permit access to people’s social meanings and activities and

involve close association and familiarity with the social setting. This does not necessarilymean

actual participation in the setting, so ethnography’s repertoire of techniques includes indepth

interviews, discourse analysis, personal documents and vignettes alongside participant

observation. Visual methods,like video, photography and film (see Pink, 2001) and the Internet

(Hine, 2000) are now alsojoining the list. These methods are also used in non-ethnographic

research and whatdistinguishes their application in ethnography is that they are employed to

meet the objectives that distinguish it as a style of research – the exploration of the social

meanings of people in the setting by close involvement in the field. One other feature of these

methods when usedin ethnographic research is that they are not employed in isolation from each

other.

Ethnography routinely builds in triangulation of method because it involves the use of multiple

methods of data collection

Historical Research Design:

Historical research is a systematic evaluation of the historical facts in order to establish new facts

regarding the past events (Borg 1963). The process of learning and understanding the

background and growth of a chosen field of study or profession can offer insight into

organizational culture, current trends, and future possibilities. The historical method of research

applies to all fields of study because it encompasses their: origins, growth, theories, personalities,

crisis, etc. Both quantitative and qualitative variables can be used in the collection of historical

information. Once the decision is made to conduct historical research, there are steps that should

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be followed to achieve a reliable result. Charles Busha and Stephen Harter detail six steps for

conducting historical research (91):

the recognition of a historical problem or the identification of a need for certain

historical knowledge.

the gathering of as much relevant information about the problem or topic as

possible.

if appropriate, the forming of hypothesis that tentatively explain relationships

between historical factors.

The rigorous collection and organization of evidence, and the verification of the

authenticity and veracity of information and its sources.

The selection, organization, and analysis of the most pertinent collected evidence,

and the drawing of conclusions; and

The recording of conclusions in a meaningful narrative.

In the field of library and information science, there is a vast array of topics that may be

considered for conducting historical research. For example, a researcher may choose to answer

questions about the development of school, academic or public libraries, the rise of technology

and the benefits/ problems it brings, the development of preservation methods, famous

personalities in the field, library statistics, or geographical demographics and how they affect

library distribution. Harter and Busha define library history as “the systematic recounting of past

events pertaining to the establishment, maintenance, and utilization of systematically arranged

collections of recorded information or knowledge….A biography of a person who has in some

way affected the development of libraries, library science, or librarianship is also considered to

be library history. (93)”

Exploratory Research Design:

Exploratory research aims at exploring the causes or factors of some phenomenon. In this type of

research one identifies the items, factors or variables needed to be explored and then usually

conducts qualitative techniques to unearth them.

Exploratory research might involve a literature search or conducting focus group interviews.

The exploration of new phenomena in this way may help the researcher’s need for better

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understanding, may test the feasibility of a more extensive study, or determine the best methods

to be used in a subsequent study. For these reasons, exploratory research is broad in focus and

rarely provides definite answers to specific research issues.

The objective of exploratory research is to identify key issues and key variables. For example,

one outcome might be a better system of measurement for a specific variable. If you define your

study as exploratory research, then you need to clearly define the objectives. Calling your report

“exploratory” is not an excuse for lack of definition.

Argumentative Research Design

An argumentative research revolves around the argument proposed by the researcher. In this type

of research, the researcher proposes a claim and then brings arguments to support his claim or

assertion. The researcher should not let any bias to emerge in his research and should remain as

objective in his discussions as possible.

Descriptive Research Design:

This type of research tries to describe the nature of the various types of subjects under study.

According to the nature of the study, these subjects may vary from a person or group of people to

organizations and institutions. Descriptive data includes a discussion on the percentages,

averages, mean scores of the units under study.

Descriptive research seeks to provide an accurate description of observations of a phenomena.

The object of the collection of census data is to accurately describe basic information about a

national population at a particular point in time. The objective of much descriptive research is to

map the terrain of a specific phenomenon. A study of this type could start with questions such as:

‘What similarities or contrasts exist between A and B?’, where A and B are different departments

in the same organisation, different regional operations of the same firm, or different companies

in the same industry. Such descriptive comparisons can produce useful insights and lead to

hypothesis-formation.

Action Research Design:

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This type of research is conducted by the participants involved in some social practice to bring

about the judicious change in the environment of the social practices. It is a self-reflective

research which aims at bringing about change in the status quo.

Action research is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice

systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research. It is based on the

following assumptions:

• Teachers and principals work best on problems they have identified for themselves

• Teachers and principals become more effective when encouraged to examine and assess their

own work and then consider ways of working differently

• Teachers and principals help each other by working collaboratively

• Working with colleagues helps teachers and principals in their professional development

Although there are many types of research that may be undertaken, action research specifically

refers to a disciplined inquiry done by a teacher with the intent that the research will inform and

change his or her practices in the future. This research is carried out within the context of the

teacher’s environment—that is, with the students and at the school in which the teacher works—

on questions that deal with educational matters at hand. While people who call for greater

professionalization say that teachers should be constantly researching and educating themselves

about their area of expertise, this is different from the study of more educational questions that

arise from the practice of teaching.

Implicit in the term action research is the idea that teachers will begin a cycle of posing

questions, gathering data, reflection, and deciding on a course of action. When these decisions

begin to change the school environment, a different set of circumstances appears with different

problems posed, which require a new look.

Case Studies Designs

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This is ‘the study of an instance in action’ (Andelman et at., 1980). It is a detailed and

comprehensive study of a ‘unit of analysis’ which is nothing but the whole of the population.

This unit can be a person, group of people, institution, organization, etc.

A case study is not easily summarized as a single, coherent form of research. Rather it is an

‘approach’ to research which has been fed by many different theoretical tributaries, some,

deriving from social science, stressing social interaction and the social construction of meaning

in situ; others, deriving from medical or even criminological models, giving far more emphasis

to the ‘objective’ observer, studying ‘the case’. What is common to all approaches is the

emphasis on study-in-depth; but what is not agreed is the extent to which the researcher can

produce a definitive account of ‘the case’, from the outside, so to speak, rather than a series of

possible readings of ‘the case’, from the inside. In this chapter we shall be discussing the claims

and problems of case study from the point of view of a broadly sociological perspective rather

than a medical perspective. Thus while case study can involve studying the pathologies of

individual patients, pupils, etc. we focus much more on the social construction of the case, the

site of the social/educational encounter and the nature of the case as realized in social action. Our

discussion of cases assumes a policy focus – a ‘case’ of curriculum development, a ‘case’ of

innovative training, and so on – combined with a physical location, i.e. teaching or training

carried out in a particular site. Where we include reference to the study of individuals in our

definition, we do so from the position of asking what does ‘the case’ look like for this teacher or

this student, i.e. from this participant’s point of view?

Survey Research

Survey Research can also be referred to as ‘Field Research’ conducted to get the opinion of

people about some issue. It is extended over a long period of time conducted on a large sample

and involves extensive data collection (both qualitative and quantitative). Most important designs

for data collection are the Questionnaires and the Interview.

Survey research is often used to assess thoughts, opinions, and feelings.Survey research can be

specific and limited, or it can have more global, widespread goals. Today, survey research is

used by a variety of different groups. Psychologists and sociologists often use survey research to

analyzebehavior, while it is also used to meet the more pragmatic needs of the media, such as, in

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evaluating political candidates, public health officials, professional organizations,

and advertising and marketing directors. A survey consists of a predetermined set of questions

that is given to a sample.With a representative sample, that is, one that is representative of the

larger population of interest, one can describe the attitudes of the population from which the

sample was drawn. Further, one can compare the attitudes of different populations as well as

look for changes in attitudes over time. A good sample selection is key as it allows one to

generalize the findings from the sample to the population, which is the whole purpose of survey

research."

Quantitative Research Designs:

Following research designs, generally, involve Qualitative research paradigm to follow:

Experimental Research

This method is used to check the cause and effect relationship between the independent and the

dependent variables. To conduct this research one variable is manipulated in determining its

effect. The researcher controls the research and can administer pre and post-tests.

Cook and Campbell (1979) offer a description of experimental design that can be taken as a

working definition: “All experiments involve at least a treatment, an outcome measure, units of

assignment, and some comparison from which change can be inferred and hopefully attributed to

the treatment” ( p. 5).

A treatment is something the researcher does. Often, language teachers want to

evaluate the results of an innovation they have done in their class. In that case,

theinnovation is the treatment.

A unit of assignment is the persons or things the researcher studies.

An outcome measure is typically a test that provides numerical data.

A true experiment requires random assignment of participants to a control group

as well as to another group, called either a treatment group or an experimental

group.

Random assignment, required to insure that both the control group and the

experimental group are equivalent, is often impossible in educational research at

the classroom level because TREES seldom control the assignment of students to

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classes and usually work with intact classes. Intact classes are classes assigned by

administrative procedures or classes selected by students.

When random assignment is not possible, the design is known as a quasi-experimental design.

The kind of data most closely associated with an experimental or quasi-experimental design are

scores from a data gathering instrument, usually a test, that typically but not exclusively uses an

interval or continuous scale. (For a discussion of scales, see Brown, 1988, p. 21). EXD is also

closely associated with statistical analysis.

Comparison is facilitated by various designs of ensuring that the groups being compared are the

same or similar; these designs include random assignment and sometimes stratified sampling.

Random assignment ensures that students have an equal chance of being assigned to the control

or treatment group. Stratified sampling, already discussed in Chapter Three, is a way to identify

parts or strata of groups to be sure they are balanced.

Another important concept is control. Control means the elimination, or at least reduction of

other factors except the ones under investigation. Control is important to insure that a

comparison is valid because the experimenter is comparing what he or she thinks they are

comparing.

Longitudinal studies:

In a Longitudinal study (chort) one collects data for a long period of time. This type of study can

extend over many years. It is different from Cross-sectional studies as the sample remains the

same over time. Research carried out longitudinally involves data collection at multiple points in

time.

Longitudinal studies may take the form of:

Trend study – looks at population characteristics over time, e.g. organisational absenteeism rates

during the course of a year;

Cohort study – traces a sub-population over time, e.g. absenteeism rates for the sales department;

Panel study – traces the same sample over time, e.g. graduate career tracks over the period 1990 -

2000 for the same starting cohort.

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While longitudinal studies will often be more time consuming and expensive than crosssectional

studies, they are more likely to identify causal relationships between variables.

Cross-sectional Studies

For cross-sectional studies (trend), one focuses on a set of factors from different respondents. At

any given time, Cross-sectional studies provide a snapshot of the population. In this method one

elicit responses from the subjects only one time.

Sampling‘Population’ is a larger group of subjects under study; out of this larger group we select a

representative smaller group of subjects known as ‘sample’ of the research and the process of

such a selection of the ‘sample’ is known as ‘sampling’. There are many benefits attached with

sampling. It is cost-effective process that saves time and energy of the researcher. There are two

sampling designs i.e., a) Probability Sampling, and b) Non-probability Sampling.

Probability Sampling

In a probability sampling, each element of the population has an equal opportunity to get

selected to form a sample population. The probability sampling design has the following four

major types of sampling techniques:

• Cluster sampling

• Systematic sampling

• Random sampling

• Stratified sampling

Non-probability Sampling

In Non-probability sampling no element of the population is selected on the basis of

probability; rather some other means of selections are used. These means of sample selection

determine the following types of Non-probability sample:

• Convenience sampling

• Quota sampling

• Judgment sampling

• Snowball sampling

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Data CollectionThe analysis of the collected data helps us to find the answer of the research question under

study. This is the reason that this component of research requires special attention Data is

collected through different tools of measurements. Qualitative and quantitative researches use

different data collection tools according to the purposes of respective researches. Some of the

most common data collection tools are:

• Questionnaires

• Interviews

• Observations

• Scales

• Document Analysis

Questionnaire

It is based on different open and close-ended questions. It is used for multiple purposes

and has many formats. It is used to get required information from the sample population

and this is why it should be accurately administered.

Interviews

It is similar to Questionnaire but a less technical tool for the collection of data in the form

of formal conversation and is mostly used in survey researches. Interviews can be

conducted in the following three formats:

• Structured

• Unstructured

• Semi-Structured

Observations

Observation is the recording of the behaviour of the sample. It relies on what the

researcher has witnessed not on what people say or think about issues. Observations can

be of two types:

• Participant Observation

• Non-participant or Systematic Observation

Similarities between Participant Observations and Non-Participant Observations

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• Both rely on direct observation as an empirical method for data collection

• Both involve field work

• Both are based on the perception of the observer

• Both are conducted in natural settings

• Both need proper planning and schedules

Differences between Participant Observations and Non-Participant Observations

Participant Observations Non-Participant Observations

• Sample is aware during observation

so behaviour is affected

• Use indirect observation

• Requires to achieve the confidence of

respondents to be observed

• Sometimes it becomes difficult for

the researcher to find out the reason

for some specific behaviour

• Use direct observation

• Researcher is supposed not to disturb

the settings or interact with people

Scales of Measurement

Measurement scales are used to collect the different forms of data and quantify the response

of the respondents to measure the variables. Type of the measurement scale will depend upon

the type of data i.e. nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio.

Different scales are:

• Nominal Scales

• Ordinal Scale

• Interval Scale

• Ratio Scale

• Likert Scale

• Rating Scales

Document Analysis

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Document analysis involves the interpretation and analysis of already recorded material. In

Document analysis data is interpreted in its original context. The sample of the

content/document analysis is “text”. The purpose of Document Analysis is to determine the

authenticity and validity of the recorded material and the data is interpreted according to a

pre-specified criterion.

References

Ary, D., Jacobs, L., &Razavieh, A. (1990).Introduction to research in education (4th ed.).

Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace.

Babbie, E. (2004). The practice of social research (10th ed.). Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth/Thompson.

Creswell, J. W. (2002). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative

and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Gay, L. R., &Airasian, P. (2000).Educational Research: Competencies for analysis and

application (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, Prentice Hall.

L.V. Redman and A.V.H. Mory. (1923). The Romance of Research. p.10

The Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, Vol. IX, MacMillan, 1930.

The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Oxford, 1952, p. 1069.

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