RESEARCH DESIGN STRATEGIES

What is Research Design?

• A plan for selecting the sources and types of information used to answer research questions
  
• A framework for specifying the relationships among the study variables
  
• A blueprint that outlines each procedure from the hypothesis to the analysis
  

Classifications of Designs

• Exploratory study is usually to develop hypotheses or questions for further research
  
• Formal study is to test the hypotheses or answer the research questions
  

Methods of Data Collection

• Monitoring, which includes observational
  studies
  
• Interrogation/communication studies
  

Power to Produce Effects

• In an experiment, the researcher attempts to control and/or manipulate the variables in the study
  
• In an ex post facto design, the researcher has no control over the variables; they can only report what has happened.
  

Purpose of the Study

• Descriptive study tries to explain relationships among variables.
  
• Causal study is how one variable produces changes in another.
  

The Time Dimension

• Cross-sectional studies are carried out once and represent a snapshot of one point in time
  
• Longitudinal studies are repeated over an extended period
  

The Topical Scope

• Statistical studies attempt to capture a population's characteristics by making inferences from a sample's characteristics
  
• Case studies place more emphasis on a full contextual analysis of fewer events or conditions and their interrelations
  

The Research Environment

• Field conditions
  
• Laboratory conditions
  
• Simulations
  

A Participant's Perceptions

• Usefulness of a design may be reduced when people in the study perceive that research is being conducted
  
• Participants' perceptions influence the outcomes of the research
  

Why do Exploratory Studies?

• Exploration is particularly useful when researchers lack a clear idea of the problems
  

Data Collection Techniques

• Qualitative techniques
  
• Secondary data
  
• Focus groups
  
• Two-stage design
  

Causation

• The essential element of causation is
  
  • A "produces" B
    

                Or

• A "forces" B to occur
  

Causal Study Relationships

• Symmetrical
  
• Reciprocal
  
• Asymmetrical
  

Asymmetrical Relationships

• Stimulus-Response
  
• Property-Disposition
  
• Disposition-Behavior
  
• Property-Behavior
  

Achieving the Ideal Experimental Design

• Control
  
  • Random Assignment
    
  • Matching
    
• Randomization    
  
  • Manipulation and control of variables